


Thicker Than Water

by elcten881



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Dark Past, F/F, F/M, Family, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Prompt Fic, welcomemat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2020-10-18 02:07:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 23
Words: 50,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20631320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elcten881/pseuds/elcten881
Summary: "The best part about being left behind is that now...now we get to choose our family. And I think our family is pretty great!"Crossposted with AFF





	1. Family Time

**Author's Note:**

> There are no set in stone ships atm, so its all on you guys and the ideas your prompts give me. I’ve got a couple of directions I can go but it’s all on you, I’d recommend reading the OG shot first.
> 
> This story may deal with homophobia at points however for plot lets pretend Korea have legalised gay marriage and gay adoption. Also lets give Korea the American school set up (Graduate at 18) ‘cause everyone knows it.
> 
> THIS IS A PROMPT FIC - I have an idea of plot lines but it's up to you guys to help fill blanks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT - Heechul is changed to Siwon in later chapters due to Momo and Heechul dating...really threw a spanner in the works

** **Family Time** **

** **

The Kim household was the loudest house on the street.

Heechul and Leeteuk were the only gay men living on the street too, so therefore their neighbours in the conservative nation of South Korea did not like them much already. The screaming and shouting from the nine girls that lived there just solidified the hatred the neighbours had for them. The two men had always wanted children of their own, a house full of love and laughter. It was one of the best things being out in Korea had taught them - when your true family lets you down you get to choose who you love enough to create a new one with. So after a year of living together as husbands they saved up, bought a huge house in a nice neighbourhood and began the process of adopting children. They made a pact early on that they would only adopt older children, the ones most parents overlooked in favour of newborns or toddlers.

On their first trip they’d found Nayeon, a bunny toothed eleven year old who immediately caught their attention. They had walked in to see kids of all ages running around and playing, neither man knew where to start. Luckily for them, someone else made the first move. Nayeon had marched over and introduced herself as their “future daughter”, her confidence may have bordered on delusion but Heechul had found it endearing. With that many kids no wonder Nayeon fought to be the centre of attention, she kept the men monopolised so that there was only one child they’d consider memorable enough to see again. After meeting with her three times they were sold and signed all the paperwork to take her home.

Nayeon would be their eldest child, she was a little narcissistic and sometimes delusional but whenever her future little sisters came along she would go out of her way to look out for them. She was somewhat of a cliché when it came to being a big sister, not wanting to be involved with her younger siblings until they had at least all reach sixteen. Teaching them how to do their make-up and impress boys (and later girls also), even though she annoyed all her siblings at one point or another they loved her…though they will never tell her that.

** **

After a year or so Nayeon commented that the house felt pretty empty and Leeteuk and Heechul had to agree. They had such a large house, too large for the three of them, so they decided to adopt another child. When they returned to the orphanage they found two siblings sat together away from everyone else. This time they had brought Nayeon, the idea was if any of her old friends were still there they could look into adopting them first, so Leeteuk asked her about the duo in the corner. Nayeon had said the elder girl was called Jeongyeon and the younger was Jihyo, they were sisters that usually avoided talking to new parents. When Heechul asked her why, Nayeon shrugged and just said “new parents split up old families”. It was no surprise, with that information in mind, that when the men went to speak with the siblings Jeongyeon was frosty towards them.

They visited a few times and once Jeongyeon and Jihyo were reassured they wanted both of them the walls fell and they were able to get to know each other. Eventually they signed the paperwork and added two new additions to their family. Jeongyeon was the contrast to hurricane Nayeon, she was calm and cool, with a talent for cooking. Because of this Nayeon and Jeongyeon would clash a lot, marking some of the most vicious fights known to man but luckily Jihyo was a great middle man. Whilst Nayeon was the eldest, Jihyo was in charge - she was a natural leader and ended up taking after Leeteuk in her mild mannered ways. Whenever a new sibling arrived after that point she would be the one to take them under her wing.

Jeongyeon and Nayeon were chaos but Jihyo created unity, it all just worked.

For a while they were fine with their family of five, the house still had enough room for each girl to have their own room and allow for a ton of spare rooms but it was significantly fuller than before. One day Heechul got a call from the adoption agency they had used for their other children, three Japanese sisters had just arrived. They had been kidnapped from an orphanage in Japan and were smuggled into Korea, the assailants had been arrested but the girls were badly shaken. The agency knew that Heechul and Leeteuk were happy to keep siblings together and so they asked if the men would take the trio in on a temporary basis as the girls refused to part from each other. They spoke no Korean either which made things somewhat awkward in the beginning, Momo (the eldest) somehow picked up enough to ward away the other girls but that obviously didn’t lead to cohesive family life.

It had been Jihyo’s idea for the family to have Japanese lessons, the then nine year old rightly commented that it’d be easier to get along if they made an effort. She was right, eventually the Japanese girls were conversing confidently in Korean once they had warmed up to their new family. Soon they were welcomed as permanent members of the Kim household. As previously stated, Momo was the eldest. She was the same age as Jeongyeon (a year younger than Nayeon) and the duo became close due to this. Momo was a great dancer, having taken lessons since she came to live with the Kim’s. She was also Jeongyeon’s partner in crime, sneaking out to parties and playing pranks. The two of them were a formidable duo that drove Leeteuk insane. They were too much like Heechul, fun loving and chaotic. Sana and Mina were twins and polar opposites, Sana was loud and abrasive while Mina was shy and quiet. Sana spoke in actions while Mina spoke in…awkward silences and repression. Despite their differences the two of them were inseparable, Sana stood up to bullies for Mina and Mina would help Sana pass classes. Mina would watch Sana try on hundreds of outfits at the store and Sana would watch all Mina’s ballet recitals. Yin and Yang. The three siblings were so close they refused their own rooms, wanting to stay together. Sana and Mina even requested to share their bed, in the beginning the trio would all sleep on Momo’s but Momo eventually decided to take the single.

However, if Mina was having a panic attack or Sana was shaking over the thunder storm outside they’d all crawl into Momo’s bed once again and when Leeteuk would go to wake them he’d find them all smiling in their sleep and content just being with each other. To many this was weird but not to them, after the horrific thing they went through when being brought to Korea they had learned to be strongest together.

Adopting Chaeyoung had not been intended, it just sort of happened. Leeteuk had been at a market in Seoul and was grabbing his wallet to pay for something, only for his hand to collide with another. He grabbed it on reflex and turned to see a small terrified girl gazing up at him - she looked younger than Sana and Mina. He kept his grip and interrogated her, only to discover that she was going to use his wallet to buy food. She had run away from her abusive foster home as, to her, living on the streets was a better option. Leeteuk took her for dinner, then they went together to the police station. He stayed whilst child protective services spoke to Chaeyoung and kept tabs on her for the following two weeks. As soon as he could he adopted Chaeyoung, Heechul was shocked but didn’t mind the new edition.

Chaeyoung was a minimalist, she wasn’t used to having a lot of anything: friends, stuff, toys etc. So it took a while for her to settle into the family unit. It was strange to everyone that Chaeyoung and Mina became close, they never openly talked often but a lot of the time Chaeyoung would be sketching at the table as Mina played games on her phone in silence. They enjoyed each others company, both quiet by nature especially at first. Chaeyoung was a talented artist, she could sit for hours at the kitchen table doodling anything and everything. It was how Heechul earned her trust, he went out and paid for an expensive art set so that she could work on her skills. Out of all of them Chaeyoung was the trouble maker, Jeongyeon and Momo loved pranks but Chaeyoung was the one who got into genuine trouble more often. The calls from school for fights, the police dropping her home for something stupid…she could be a lot.

But she was also the most loyal of their brood, no matter what the situation her family were her first priority. She was loyal to those who were loyal to her and would fight tooth and nail for those she loved.

The appearance of their youngest was completely out of the blue. They had finally saved up to go on vacation and after a long household debate they agreed on going to Taiwan. It was an exciting time, Nayeon had just turned was getting ready to start high school so the trip was a treat before all their babies ended up in big school. While they were there the family began to enjoy night time walks, exploring the beautiful city of Tainan. One night they took a wrong turn into a more run down area, there were homeless people all over the street. All the doors were open revealing the nefarious acts going on inside the dark buildings. Heechul kept his family close and tried to guide them out of the area, but then Leeteuk froze. Following his line of sight Heechul saw a little girl sat in a doorway, it was one of the houses with lights on revealing a poker game and drugs being used. Instructing Leeteuk to go back to the hotel with the kids, not questioning his husband Leeteuk did as requested.

Three hours later Heechul reappeared with adoption papers and the little girl in tow. It was difficult at first, Tzuyu (the newest addition) spoke absolutely no Korean. She was only ten at the time, a year younger than Chaeyoung, and so once they had returned home she was put into some intensive Korean lessons. Tzuyu was a lot like Mina, only rather than shy she was more reserved - choosing to say very little rather than being unable to speak in social situations. But she was definitely the baby of the family due to her naivety and innocence that lay under her cold façade.

It would be another few years until their family was complete. Chaeyoung was halfway through her first year of high school when she brought her friend Dahyun home with a sob story. Apparently Dahyun had been kissed by a girl in the hallway at school and her parents had freaked and kicked her out of home. They were extremely religious people and therefore had not only been furious that their daughter was a lesbian they had also gone on a vile tirade about Heechul and Leeteuk. Dahyun, at fourteen years old, packed her stuff and left home. She was welcomed at the Kim household and found herself with eight loyal sisters.

Chaeyoung loved having her best friend living with them, she and Dahyun were bros till the end. Dahyun fit in really well with the others: she’d learn Mina’s recital music and play it on piano so she could practice, she’d pull pranks with Jeongyeon, sneak to parties with Momo or gossip with Sana. The girls adored her and she really pulled the family to a perfect close.

“GIRLS GET UP IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL!” Heechul shouted up the stairs,

A groggy Jeongyeon stepped out of her room and into the hallway, she couldn’t wait to graduate and be free of the daily wake-up call. She’d be chilling at college like Nayeon was, working her own schedule without fear of laying in to late and having a shoe thrown at her by Appa Leeteuk…he used to pitch baseball in college so believe her IT HURT. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she began making her way down the staircase, she’d managed to put on her uniform but her shirt remained untucked and her tie was in a tangled knot on her neck. She walked into the dining room where breakfast was being laid out by Mina. Leeteuk would usually cook the meals but Mina would always take them to the table, Chaeyoung always said in terms of the Japanese girls that: Momo was your girlfriend, Sana was your side piece and Mina was the wifey. Sana usually attacked her with something after she said it but it was a pretty true sentiment.

Almost everyone was already sat at the table, only Tzuyu who was still getting ready, Momo still yet to rise from bed and Nayeon who was attending college an hour away were missing. Jeongyeon took her seat between Dahyun and Jihyo, head immediately making a pillow out of the table.

“That’s unhygienic.” Jihyo sighed,

“You’re unhygienic.” Was Jeongyeon’s muffled response,

“What does that even mean?”

“Shhhh….too loud….too early.” Dahyun was dozing off while propping her head up with her hand,

Jihyo rolled her eyes at the duo as Heechul leaned over and knocked Dahyun’s elbow with his fork, “Uncooked joints off the table.”

Dahyun muttered and sat back in her chair. Jihyo chuckled and looked to her father who could only shake his head. She couldn’t understand why those two were so tired, it wasn’t like they were up all night. In fact Mina had actually been up late playing video games yet she was one of the first awake. Dahyun would (and had) sleep all day if given a chance and Jihyo could not grasp how she could, for her she always went stir crazy every time she was idle. Jihyo liked having activities and needed to keep herself busy. In the living room was a massive year planner with different coloured dotted stickers for when the girls had clubs or events. The large red circles were days that their fathers needed them home, nobody could schedule anything on that day.

Jihyo’s colour was light blue and her small dots were on nearly every day on the calender. Between her duties as Class President, head of the debate club, choir, yearbook committee, Big Sister Programme, events committee and tutoring Mondays and Wednesday she didn’t really have a lot of time to breathe. However, Jihyo liked the hectic and the intensity of a full schedule - it was where she thrived. Leeteuk was a lot the same way and so had tried reminding her a few times not to burn herself out, they made her promise to take Sunday’s off as her personal time and so far she had adhered to that. If so somewhat reluctantly.

Sana was a little similar, not because she was involved in a lot of extracurriculars but because she had an extensive social life. Out of everyone in the house Jihyo and Sana were home the least. Sana was extremely popular, she was known to be the nicest girl in school but associated herself with some of the more bitchy types. Because of this Sana and Mina were never able to talk much at school, despite being so close. Mina was a shy nerd who mostly stuck with Chaeyoung and Dahyun while Sana stayed with her own friends. Heechul had many a heart attack over various outfits Sana had left in or boys/girls she had brought home to “study” with. She was the wild child and neither of her fathers knew how to deal with her. Leeteuk’s sister, Sunmi, was the one to deal with girl problems so they had left Sana to her.

Sunmi was equally out of her depth.

At that moment she was sat opposite Jihyo texting away on her phone, picking at the food on her plate. Mina sighed as she sat next to her twin, she didn’t like Sana’s friends - they could be mean. They also created a wedge between the twins during school hours, they didn’t like Mina and Mina sure as hell couldn’t stand them. Rather than distract Sana from her phone she instead watched Chaeyoung sketch something in her notebook. She was tuning out the now awake Jeongyeon and Dahyun arguing over the last bit of orange juice, as well as Appa Heechul now wandering in and out of the room looking for his work tie.

“Chaeyoung-ah, Sana-ya” Appa Leeteuk called as he finally sat down to eat, “Put your things down and eat please.”

“Just a second.” Both girls declared in unison,

Leeteuk sighed, “Where are the other two, I only count seven.”

“I’ll get them.” Jihyo said,

Everyone immediately dropped what they were doing and ran for cover.

“MOMO! TZUYU! COME DOWN FOR BREAKFAST!”

There was a tell-tale thud from above as Momo finally awoke. Tzuyu happened to come through the door at that moment, “No need to yell I’m right here.”

She wasn’t wearing her school uniform, instead she was dressed in a black sports uniform with a bow on her back.

Jeongyeon snorted, “Morning Legolas.”

Tzuyu just poked her tongue out.

“Shouldn’t you be dressed for school?” Jihyo asked as Tzuyu sat down,

Tzuyu shook her head, “I have to practice before school for the competition later.”

Leeteuk dropped his spoon with a clang, “That’s today!?”

“Yeah?” The youngest frowned, “You and Appa Heechul said you’d come.”

Appa Leeteuk looked sheepish, “Sorry sweetie, but we promised to go over college brochures with Jeongyeon and Momo later. They’re already cutting it close to deadlines.”

Tzuyu was the youngest child and therefore, often forgotten - she had long since accepted that.

“I-It’s okay.”

“Maybe Chae could go watch you?”

Chaeyoung looked up, “Can’t - Mina, Dahyun and I are going to the movies.”

“You can’t push it back and take Tzuyu with you?”

“Pre-booked tickets, sorry Tzu.”

Tzuyu just went back to eating. She learned long ago that Chaeyoung didn’t want her baby sister hanging around. Luckily there was a beep outside, the school bus. Everyone made a mad dash to the door.

“MINA THOSE ARE MY SHOES!”

“NO THEY AREN’T SANA YOURS ARE ON YOUR FEET.”

“Oh…”

“Hurry up, Chae - we need to grab the back seat!”

“Give her credit, she’s going as fast as her little legs will carry her.”

“Fuck you Jeongyeon!!”

“Language!”

“Sorry, Jihyo-unnie.”

“Bye girls have a nice day!” Leeteuk called after them,

Once the procession had left the man sighed in relief and sagged in his chair, when Heechul wandered in still looking for his tie Leeteuk grabbed it from under the newspaper his husband had been reading over breakfast. With a grin Heechul pecked his cheek and sat down to finish his breakfast with his husband.

“Peace at last.”

_BANG_

_THUMP, THUMP, THUMP_

“WHY DID NOBODY WAKE ME UP!?” Momo yelled as she sprinted out the door,

With her shirt untucked, hair a mess and wearing two mismatched left shoes.


	2. Origins: Sana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sana wasn't always scared of thunder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So these ‘Origins’ chapters will be sprinkled throughout, I have Tzuyu and Nayeon’s plot for this season planned but still need the others. Please leave prompts to help me start getting ideas.

** **Origins: Sana** **

** **

Thunder rocked the house waking Sana with a start.

She felt her heart pounding in her chest and at the sight of lightning flashing across the black sky out the window, she dived under her covers to protect herself from the following crash. She hated storms, they were violent and loud. Usually the thunder would also wake Mina but as the girl had been at rehearsals that afternoon she had been exhausted and so was sleeping uncharacteristically deeply on the far corner of their bed. In vain Sana began grabbing at the space between them, praying that Mina’s unconscious hand was there. She couldn’t see that the ballerina had both hands under her pillow cuddling it to herself. Momo’s snores from the other bed told Sana that the elder girl was dead to the world so there’d be no help from there.

Her wandering hand gripped the mattress as the sky lit up once again, her eyes closed tightly as another loud boom sounded. Clenching her eyes together allowed for her tears to tumble over her cheeks, dropping on to the pillow below as she sobbed quietly. The noise was deafening and Sana was terrified, roll after roll of thunder clapped above them and each time she felt her heart jump out of her chest. When a particularly loud crash sounded Sana was no longer able to stay quiet and one of her sobs loudly echoed around the room. Once one had come out all Sana’s sobs began getting louder, almost as though she was praying for someone to hear her.

“Sana?” A groggy voice sounded from the other side of the room as Momo, by miracle, woke up to the cries of her sister,

Sana only sobbed louder.

“Sana!” Momo was up and awake like a shot, “Mina? Mina wake up!”

A whine came from next to her as Mina stirred, Sana sat up to reach out for a her big sister, “What’s going on?”

A thunder clap was there answer, Sana whimpering from where she was now being cuddled by Momo. Immediately Mina sat up and cuddled into Sana’s other side. Eventually they were able to calm her sobs into small whimpers, it didn’t matter to either of them that they were probably going to be up the rest of the night looking after Sana. She was their sister, a year younger than Momo and fifteen minuets older than Mina. They knew if the roles were reversed she would do the same for them, plus they understood why thunder scared her so much - it never used to. However, now it brought back painful memories.

There had been thunder that night.

_A loud clash woke Sana with a start. _

_At first she thought it was the storm outside, their orphanage wasn’t well maintained and so even the slightest wind increase cause the building to sway. It was normal during storms for things to fall over or for the thunder to sound like it was right next to her, therefore Sana planned to just go back to sleep. However, she happened to look over to her sisters’ beds and found that they were empty. That was strange, usually if one of them had a nightmare they’d go downstairs for a while but they always woke each other before then. Flinging off the covers Sana stood and made her way into the hall…where she then heard noise downstairs._

_“Let her go! Get off me!” _

_That was Momo’s voice…_

_Without taking a moment to think Sana sprinted downstairs and froze at the sight of two masked men trying to pull her sisters out the door. Both were putting up a fight, holding hands and refusing to let go. Momo was shouting at the men, voice lost under the storm outside, kicking and punching him when he tried picking her up. Meanwhile, Mina was crying not letting Momo go as another man tried to pull her away. The men were dressed in all black and were growing visibly frustrated at how difficult it was to get these girls to stop fussing. Nobody appeared to have noticed her yet and so Sana realised she could go back upstairs and get someone. Their orphanage owner always told them to never go off with strangers and Sana was not going to let either of her sisters go with these men._

_Only when she span on her heel to scamper back upstairs she walked smack, bang into another pair of legs. She looked up and met the eyes of a third man glaring down at her, not taking any chances he immediately grabbed her arm. By now Mina was in the second man’s arms crying out for Momo, while the eldest was still giving up a fight._

_“You idiots!” The man holding Sana growled,_

_The first man was able to grab Momo once the child was distracted by Sana being there._

_“All you had to do was grab those two but you took so long you were nearly caught.” The obvious leader continued, “Now we need to take this little bitch too!”_

_“More money when we sell ‘em.” Man two declared with a sick grin, adjusting Mina over his shoulder,_

_“Yeah,” Man one grunted as he tried to keep Momo in his clutches, “It’s like you said - perverts will pay a high price for little ones.”_

_“But look at her!” The leader snapped, “She’ll never sell as well as these two. Who’s gonna want her? I told you just these two! You better hope she sells or else the boss’ll kill the three of us…”_

_The men dragged the three of them outside, seperating the girls into different cars. They tried screaming for help, for each other, but the storm was so loud nobody could hear them. Sana was shoved onto the back seat of one of the cars, a mouldy blanket thrown on top of her._

_“Stay down.”_

_Not wanting to get herself or her sisters hurt Sana stayed where she was, she heard the door slam shut and the man walked round to the drivers seat. The little girl on the back seat didn’t move an inch, she just lay there in her squirrel pyjamas, underneath the damp smelling blanket, shaking. She may have been young but she knew in her heart she may not see her sister again. Momo wouldn’t go easily, Sana could only hope she didn’t annoy the man enough to kill her but instead would get attention from a passer-by. Mina….Sana was terrified that her twin was being taken away from her. Mina wouldn’t be able to fight her way out like Momo had the chance to, Sana had failed her - had been a bag big sister even if only by fifteen minutes. She should have protected her._

_Sana cried quietly on the back seat, she was alone and cold as the rain had soaked through her pyjamas. The man said nobody would want her, so she would be alone forever. Her sisters would be taken and she would stay behind all alone. Sana didn’t like being alone, she was a twin - it wasn’t in her nature. She jumped as thunder clapped outside, the rain hammering at the car windows as it began to move at a scary pace. Sana wanted to go home, wanted her bed, her stuffed toys. She wanted to cuddle up in Momo’s bed when she woke up from this nightmare. Play with Mina and the other children the next day. _

_But this wasn’t a dream…_

_She was alone in the back seat of a kidnappers care with no idea where her sisters were._

_She didn’t want to be alone._

_Please, please don’t let her be alone._

_ _

Ever since that night Sana had associated thunder with how she felt that night. Whenever a storm came round Momo and Mina knew that they would need to let Sana know that she wasn’t in that car - she wasn’t alone. Even in her daily life Sana surrounded herself with people, making sure that she was like by everyone, making sure she had a place, that she was wanted. It was why she loved having so many siblings, from Nayeon to Tzuyu there was always someone in the house so she could never be home alone. It was how she remained friends with the popular girls, the fear of being cast out or ostracised for offending them or getting in their bad books terrified Sana. So whenever Jennie bullied a girl to tears Sana stayed quiet, when Lisa cheated of someone’s test she said nothing, when Jisoo wanted to copy her homework Sana would let her without fail.

Just so she wouldn’t be alone.

It pained Momo to see her little sister that way, to see her placing all her self-esteem in what others thought only because of something an evil man once said. Mina always maintained that one day Sana would learn. One day she would realise that enough people loved her that she didn’t have to worry about being dropped by the popular girls because there were more important people that had her back. But until that day they would show her however they could: sticking by her side, never leaving her behind…

And holding her through every storm.


	3. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason the sisters avoid each other at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from AFF faithd21

** **Friends** **

** **

The Kim daughters were all very different people.

Jeongyeon was the jock of the family, she played nearly every sport at their high school and was the captain of their soccer team. Nayeon used to make fun of her all the time for being a meat-head, whenever she and her friends hung out with the guys from the boys school over the road she could turn very “Lads! Lads! Lads!” (fuck boy for you Americans). The guys would wait by the gate for Jeongyeon and her group and then they’d all walk round to the diner at the corner of the street. See Jeongyeon was one of the guys, she could burp as loud, make dirty jokes and play as well as they could at most sports…except basketball because of the dumb, biological height difference.

Momo was in the same group, only she was on the dance squad and therefore never hung out with the boys sports teams from the other school. Usually she would sit with the girls at lunch and then, after school, she’d hang with other members of the dance team. The one time she had been invited to the diner Jeongyeon had decked a guy for making inappropriate comments about her sister. After that Momo only saw those guys at parties. She and Jeongyeon were definitely best friends though so mostly they’d be hanging out with each other when they had nothing planned. Mostly planning pranks.

Jihyo was their polar opposite. She was the goody-goody type that constantly berated them for misbehaving at school or failing a test. It didn’t help that she was class president and therefore had a duty to punish her own sisters for being late to class. As close as she was to her only biological sibling, she couldn’t stand her friends and so at school she would avoid them like the plague. Jihyo had inherited Nayeon’s old friend group after the elder had graduated, everyone there was like herself - student council, class reps, honour students. All with a strong sense of duty for millions of things that probably didn’t matter in the real world. In the nicest possible way….they were nerds.

Sana was not a nerd, she was one of the “Golden Five” - a group of five girls that girls at their school hated and boys from the school opposite wanted. They were bitchy, gossipy, life ruiners when they didn’t like you. While Sana herself didn’t partake in these things often, she used to have quite the mean streak. It had only been when a girl she had picked on started picking on Mina for revenge that Sana decided to lower her bitchiness. Her friends however, were not the same. In any KDrama they’d be the main villains. They could make or break someone, they decided who was in and who was out while they themselves were untouchable.

Nobody hated Sana’s friends more than Chaeyoung. The troublemaker didn’t have much in the way of a friend group herself, she only hung around with Dahyun and Mina. Dahyun had been friends with Chaeyoung since they accidentally blew up the science lab freshmen year and Mina had always had a soft spot for Chaeyoung. Mina struggled to make friends so Chaeyoung introduced her to Dahyun and that was their group.If Mina had a recital and Dahyun was teaching piano, Chaeyoung would be up to no good. She liked the thrill of petty theft, revelled in the destructive art of graffiti, adored joy riding with the groups fourth member - Somi. At school they were known as losers but outside Chaeyoung was a delinquent and she wore that label with pride.

Usually these groups stayed as far from each other as possible, however when Tzuyu finally got to high school all elder siblings were sat down and told to look after her. Somehow all the girls separately decided they would incorporate baby Tzu into their friendship circles. If she was in their group she’d be safe from the perils of high school! Right?

Of course nobody thought it a good idea to talk to each other about their plans….or Tzuyu for that matter. So when Tzuyu got off the bus that morning the first issue arose: both Jeongyeon and Jihyo called her over to where they stood with their friends….at separate corners of the courtyard. For a second Tzuyu looked between them, awkwardly fiddling with the strap of her satchel as she worked out what to do. Luckily, Chaeyoung appeared and tugged her over to where Mina, Dahyun and Somi stood.

“Hey Tzu.” Mina smiled,

“Thanks….didn’t know who’s heart I could break Jihyo’s or Jeongyeon’s.” Tzuyu chuckled, awkwardly

“This is Somi,” Chaeyoung introduced and the other girl smiled kindly, “She’s insane.”

Somi elbowed Chaeyoung in the ribs with a grin, “Nice to meet you, finally the baby Kim!”

Tzuyu grimaced, “Please don’t call me that.”

Now Tzuyu loved Chaeyoung dearly, she was the closest to Tzuyu’s age and when they were younger they were really close but now that wasn’t the case. Tzuyu was immediately lost in the inside jokes and discussions of people she didn’t know, it meant that even if Tzuyu had been the talkative type she couldn’t contribute to the conversation. She had no clue who Ms Song was….nor what Herbert is. So once the bell rang she quietly asked Mina to show her where to go for her welcome assembly and opted to try and find other people to hang out with. During the assembly she got talking to a girl called Hyewon who seemed nice and they had some classes together. Unfortunately when morning recess rolled round Tzuyu couldn’t find her.

“Chewy!” A high-pitched voice called,

Tzuyu had just figured out how to work her new locker when she heard the butchering of her name, she turned to find Sana with her own friends at her locker (which happened to be opposite Tzuyu’s). The first thing she noticed was that Sana had rolled her skirt up way to high, Appa Heechul would have fit if he saw. Secondly, she noticed Sana’s friends didn’t look too friendly. There was a girl close to her height who was smiling at her but apart from that no one else seemed warm…causing every step towards her beckoning sister make her anxiety raise.

Sana hugged her, when she released her the elder kept an arm across her shoulders, “Girls, this is my baby sister - Tzuyu.”

“Hi!” The tall girl greeted,

“Hello.” Another girl smiled,

“...”

“Sup.”

The last two appeared to despise her mere presence.

“This is Lisa, Rose, Jisoo and--”

“Jennie.” Said girl glared, eyeing Tzuyu up and down, “So you’re Sana’s sister huh?”

“A-Adopted.” Was all Tzuyu could spit out,

“Obviously,” Jennie scoffed, “Your Dads are fag--”

“Jennie.” Sana deadpanned, “Not around her.”

Tzuyu looked at Sana, somewhat upset that she would allow her friends to call their Appas that. That was all it took for Tzuyu to decide she didn’t like Jennie, in fact if she could get away with leaving right now she would. But Tzuyu is a poor socially anxious bean and so she spent her break trapped under Sana’s arm, listening to the girls make fun of everyone that passed. Lisa seemed nice enough when she wasn’t talking to Jennie and Rose was a lot like Sana so Tzuyu liked them but Jennie and Jisoo just kept picking people apart. Plus Jennie kept throwing subtle jabs at her when Sana wasn’t paying attention. The bell ringing was a welcomed escape and Tzuyu ran back to class immediately telling Hyewon about what had happened in the hallway. When lunch came, Tzuyu had asked to sit with Hyewon but she had to go see the principle about something they had messed up on her enrolment documents.

Entering the cafeteria she quickly got her lunch and searched the room for people to sit with, Chaeyoung was a big no and so was Sana. She found Jeongyeon and Momo with their friends yelling “Chug!” over an over as one of them downed a ketchup bottle. She’d get along with Mina. Not wanting to be apart of…whatever the hell that was, she was relieved when she spotted Jihyo waving at her. Taking her tray she approached the large table in the centre of the cafeteria.

“Ladies,” Jihyo smiled, “This is Tzuyu, it’s her first day.”

“Nice to meet you Tzuyu,” One girl greeted, “I’m Irene, this is Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri.”

“I-It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Aww she’s so cute!!” Joy burst startling the youngest Kim, the girl blushed, “Sorry…”

“Did you guys hear their getting a new Science teacher?” Irene said,

“Yeah…a guy this time right?” Jihyo asked,

Seulgi nodded, “Poor man is doomed to the sea of hormonal pupils at a girls only school.”

“Do we know his name yet?”

“Mr Tuan. He’s not Korean I don’t think.”

Tzuyu had never been more bored in her life than she was listening to Jihyo and her friends talk shop. She didn’t care about new teachers or changes to the type of soap in the dispensers - Tzuyu was just glad there was soap! To Jihyo’s credit, her friends tried to involve Tzuyu in there discussions but it was pretty clear that she had no clue what was going on so it was kind of embarrassing on her end. It was towards the end of lunch she spotted Hyewon and excused herself to join her, they spent the remained of their break talking about how weird senior students were and getting to know each other. By the end of the day Tzuyu was proud of herself, she’d survived her first day and made a new friend in the process. She had been walking towards the bus home when suddenly she was pushed to the ground.

“Watch where you’re going Amber!” A voice snapped,

Tzuyu sighed and lifted her head, someone was holding a hand out for her. Tzuyu took the hand and was pulled up to meet the cold eyes of a girl with dyed light brown hair. She held the hand a bit too long before dropping it, the girl smirking and picking up the satchel that had fallen off her shoulder. Tzuyu took it gently from her.

“Thanks.”

“Sorry my friend ran you over.”

“It’s okay--”

“Tzuyu-ah!” Jeongyeon’s loud voice interrupted as she and Momo appeared, both glaring at the stranger,

Momo slung her arm round there sister, “Good day?”

“Err yeah…”

“Chong.” Jeongyeon growled,

“Kim.”

“You got somewhere to be, Elkie?” Momo asked,

Elkie scoffed before smiling at Tzuyu again, “I was only helping.”

“Well she doesn’t need your help.”

The girl rolled her eyes before walking away, “It was nice meeting you, Tzuyu.”

“Stay away from my little sister, Chong!” Jeongyeon yelled after her,

“What was that about?” Tzuyu asked,

Momo led her towards their group, “Chong’s bad news, that’s all you need to know.”

Tzuyu said no more as she was pulled towards a large co-ed group of students, “Guy’s this is Tzuyu, Tzuyu these are the guys!”

“I’m Bora,” One girl greeted with a kind smile, “Jeongyeon says you’re good at archery? I’m captain of the team if you’d like to sign up.”

“Oh! I hadn’t really---”

“Soyou, tell your girlfriend to ease up on begging for membership.”

“Shut up Hyolyn.” Bora snapped,

“Gonna introduce us, Jeong?” A deeper voice asked,

All attention went back to the boys in the group, their looks made Tzuyu feel uncomfortable. Her mother had never been a good parent but she had ensured Tzuyu knew how dangerous men could be. She was glad when Momo’s grip on her tightened in an ‘I’m here’ sort of way.

“I guess,” Jeongyeon sighed jokingly, “Tzu, this is Wonho, Minhyuk and Shownu.”

Tzuyu waved shyly but felt more concerned about how Shownu was looking at her and licking his lips, “Sup.”

Jeongyeon shoved him, “Keep it in your pants dude she’s fourteen.”

“But she’s like super hot dude.” Shownu smirked, “I’m sure she’ll appreciate some attention.”

Jeongyeon shoved him again, “Back up, bro! I warned you with Momo.”

“C’mon Jeong, with a body like hers she’ll have dudes all over her. I just wanna get there firs---

_SMACK!_

_ _

Right across the face. Tzuyu winced, Jeongyeon had a powerful slap.

“Hey Tzuyu!” A voice called,

Tzuyu had never been so glad to see Hyewon in her whole life….mostly because they’d only met today but you understand the sentiment.

“Wanna get the bus together?” The oblivious freshman asked,

Tzuyu nodded, “Dear God, please!”

Aaaaaand that’s how Tzuyu learned that she hated all her sisters friends.

Or as she phrases it to them: Learnt to make friends all by herself.

Perhaps there’s a reason that none of her sisters talk at school?


	4. Origins: Tzuyu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tzuyu just wants to help her Mama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW - THIS IS NOT A NICE CHAPTER! THERE IS MENTION OF: DRUGS, PROSTITUTION, CHILD PROSTITUTION AND PAST TRAUMA. IF THESE SUBJECTS MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE PLEASE DO NOT READ.

** **Origins: Tzuyu** **

** **

“Did you get the Maths homework done?” Hyewon asked as she and Tzuyu walked into their science class,

“Eventually,” Tzuyu chuckled, “Momo had dance practice in our living room so there was music pumping for hours. Pretty sure my teeth are still vibrating.”

“That’s rough, we could compare notes if you want?”

“That’s okay,” Tzuyu smiled, taking her seat, “I’ll make Jihyo look it over at lunch.”

“Damn, I wish my sister checked my homework….or y’know did it for me.”

Tzuyu laughed, with her stuff set on the desk she finally took note of the new addition to the classroom. Ever since Tzuyu started at this school there had been a lot of talk from various girls about Mr Tuan - the attractive science teacher. Being that this was an only girls school, however, his looks were kind of relative to how few males these girls saw at the school. He was apparently a great teacher and would occasionally playfully flirt with the girls who swarmed him, he was peoples favourite teacher. Recently, Tzuyu’s usual science teacher went on maternity leave and so Mr Tuan was taking over their class. The youngest Kim didn’t really care about the change, she liked their old teacher but didn’t mind switching. He was currently sat at his desk, watching the girls walk in with a smile on his face, feet kicked up on the desk.

Tzuyu frowned, he seemed like the wannabe-cool-teacher and honestly she was NOT here for it. She could hear girls behind her giggling over how cute he was and judging by the smug smile on his face he could hear them. The late bell sounded and he swung his legs round and stood up. He smiled kindly and looked over the classroom.

“Good Morning, ladies!” He greeted, “I’m Mr Tuan,I’ll be taking over from Mrs. Choi for the rest of the year.”

He then did something that Tzuyu immediately despised him for….he announced they were going to do an ice breaker. Hell to the no. Kim Tzuyu did not do ice breakers. They started in the back corner, the student would stand and give their name along with an “interesting fact” about themselves that wasn’t really interesting. Tzuyu was in the second row so she had some time to think over what she wanted to say, eventually the girl next to her sat down and Mr Tuan’s eyes met hers.

She stood, “My name is Tzuyu and I’m originally from Taiwan.”

She then sat back down.

“Ah, Nǐ hǎo!” Mr Tuan beamed, “My family are from Taiwan!”

Tzuyu was surprised but it didn’t register more than a small flicker in her eyes, she was good at being impassive. The teacher smiled kindly at her and moved on, noting that she was a shy one. Hyewon went next but Tzuyu noticed Mr Tuan’s gaze going back to her from time to time, looking her up and down.

He had a look in his eyes that the girl had seen before…a long time ago

_“Ziyu…” A hoarse voice called,_

_A young Tzuyu had been stood in the doorway people watching, they had no front door anyway so there was no point being afraid of the people wandering around outside. If they wanted to get to them they could just walk right in. The little girl turned to the thin, dirty mattress on which laid the skeletal figure of her mother. The woman was holding out a weak hand to her daughter, summoning her over. Tzuyu did as requested, approaching carefully. She knew Mama was like this sometimes, when she had her medicine she would just lay on the mattress for days. Mama would lay there and waste away, Tzuyu didn’t know what this medicine was but she knew the men that brought it were scary. However, it was better that they come, the one time they hadn’t Mama had been scary. Shouting, screaming, crying…Tzuyu was still scared of shouting. When the men would visit she would often hide till they left or go and find the volunteers van - they always gave out food and sometimes Tzuyu would starve between their visits. _

_“Yes Mama?”_

_Tzuyu’s little hands held her Mama’s delicately, “Ziyu, Mama is having a v-visitor in a while.”_

_Mama’s visitors were always men, different to the ones that gave her the medicine. They would cuddle Mama on the mattress and Tzuyu would have to leave, usually she would sit outside which could be scary when they came in the early hours of the morning when nobody was out. However, Tzuyu knew that if anyone approached her and scared her that she could run round the corner to the man that gave Mama medicine, Mr Z, he would protect her. Mama said it was part of their deal: medicine and protection as long as she looked after these strange men._

_“H-How old are you now?” Mama asked,_

_“Nine, Mama.”_

_“Would you like to help Mama?” Mama continued, her croaky voice inflicting upwards to entice her, “You would just go upstairs with one of Mama’s friends, if you don’t Mama can’t get her medicine this week and you know how badly I need it.”_

_“W-Why do I need to go?” Tzuyu asked confused,_

_“Because he asked for you specifically,” Mama told her, phrasing it like Tzuyu were special, she cupped her daughters face with a shaky hand, “And why wouldn’t he? My beautiful girl!”_

_Tzuyu still looked hesitant, “Mama, I don’t want to go with him.”_

_Mama’s eyes went from cold and dead to burning hot._

_SMACK!_

_Tzuyu went teary eyed, Mama never hit her, “M-Mama?”_

_“You will do what you are told!”_

_Tzuyu stared at a spot on the wall, tears escaping her eyes and down her cheeks, “Y-Yes Mama.”_

_“Good girl.” Mama whispered, cupping her cheek once more,_

_Tzuyu winced as her thumb brushed over the red hand-print on her cheek._

_“Knock, knock!” A deep voice called and two men walked in along with Mr Z, “There’s my girls!”_

_“You bring it?” Mama asked,_

_Mr Z chuckled, “You get it once I hear you’ve both been good for my friends here.” He looked to Tzuyu and smiled, “You’re going to be a good girl, right? You’ll go upstairs with my friend here?”_

_Tzuyu looked at the man to Mr Z’s left, he was watching her - looking her up and down. It made her uncomfortable, but if Mama and Mr Z said whatever she was doing was okay then she had to assume it was. Why would they lie to her? The man licked his lips and smiled at her, it wasn’t a nice smile….it was intended to be but it wasn’t. He held out his hand and Tzuyu looked at Mr Z who nodded. Gingerly she took the big hand._

_“Show him upstairs please Ziyu,” Mr Z told her, “Do what he says, atta girl.”_

_He stopped the man for a moment._

_“Remember,” Mr Z opened his jacket revealing the gun tucked into the waistband of his trousers, “You can look, you can touch, she can touch but she stays a virgin - understood?”_

_“Of course.”_

_Tzuyu learned from a young age that men could be awful._

_Once the man left she felt dirty and wrong, she didn’t like what he did but was confused over what she was asked to do for him. She wouldn’t know until she was older what was going on, but when she went downstairs and saw her Mama injecting the medicine she needed so much she felt somewhat happy that she could help. Then she heard tires on the gravel outside, the volunteer van. Her stomach growled and she went to get a sandwich. Before she could she spotted an envelope on the box that sat next to the door with her name on. She opened it and was surprised to find some money inside with a little thank you note from the man she had been upstairs with._

_She smiled, then checked her mother was out of it before hiding the envelope under a loose floorboard. Mama often borrowed anything Tzuyu had so that she could get more medicine._

_Maybe if she saved enough she could buy her Mama all the medicine she needed, then Mr Z wouldn’t have to bring the men round any more?_

_That was the last truly innocent thought on the matter she ever had._

_ _

So Tzuyu knew what those sorts of people looked like. However, Mr Tuan was so nice and charismatic - maybe she was wrong this time? She was safe now, she was no longer with her Mama “working” to help get her medicine. This was Seoul, where she had a better family and actually went to school. Mr Tuan was probably harmless and it was just her still being traumatised from her previous life. Over the lesson she found he was kind and helpful, often stopping by her desk to help her with anything she was struggling with. At the end of the lesson he told all the girls that if they needed help they were welcome to stay late after school for as long as they needed.

As the bell rang he excused them, however he called after Tzuyu as she walked past, “很高興見到你, Tzuyu.”

_Nice to meet you._

She smiled shyly and left the room.

Unaware of him staring at her ass as she walked away.


	5. Mina and Chaeyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina and Chaeyoung are close...but how close are they?

** **Mina and Chaeyoung** **

** **

Mina and Chaeyoung were very different people when looked at from an outside perspective.

Mina was the quiet, studious type. She never really spoke to anyone, let alone be apart of a large social group. While the other girls in her family were reasonably popular at school or at least part of larger social circles, Mina just wasn’t like that. When her sisters went out, she stayed in playing video games. If Sana had her friends over she would hide till they left, or if she spotted someone from class in the street she had been known to dive into bushes as a means of escape. What some may call it an embarrassing tumble into leaves and twigs, Mina called it an effective escape route. Worked like a charm if she was being honest and she didn’t wish to plan any other form of escape route. It served its purpose.

Chaeyoung on the other hand was an artist. She was daring and rebellious as well as sensitive in a way that nobody truly understood. Everything through her eyes got a different spin, to her the world was beautiful in various different ways and she attempted to capture this beauty in any way she could. The best example was her love of graffiti, the use of spray paints to make amazing pieces of urban art was something that appealed to Chaeyoung. The year or so she spent living on the streets had put her in contact with many taggers, who taught her the place of oppression and dystopia within the art form and it had always had a special place in her heart. Unfortunately, these same people were the ones who introduced her to petty crime as a form of thrill, now she was an adrenaline junkie - the type of adrenalin she could only get from running away from the police. She had brought home by police many times and Heechul and Leeteuk didn’t know what to do.

If she continued to get into trouble she’d be taken away from them, put back into the care system until she was eighteen. Chaeyoung didn’t know that but Mina had overheard the conversation with the social worker. They had four social workers that came throughout the year: one flew over from the foster home in Japan to check on Momo, Sana and Mina, one was from the home Nayeon, Jihyo and Jeongyeon came from (though since Jeongyeon turned eighteen they only came to see Jihyo now), one flew in from Taiwan to speak with Tzuyu and the final was one Chaeyoung had been appointed after her old home closed due to the abuse. Mina had overheard Chaeyoung’s case worker telling their Appa’s that if they couldn’t control her, Chaeyoung would have to go to someone that could. After hearing that, the youngest Japanese girl decided to look after Chaeyoung.

She was a calming influence on the younger girl, with Chaeyoung now preferring to stay home and hang with Mina rather than go out raising hell with Somi. Even on the occasions she did, the fear of disappointing Mina by being brought home by police again led to extra care being taken for her not to be caught which everyone supposed was still a better outcome. The duo were extremely close due to this. Chaeyoung had invited the previously loner Mina to join her little group and let Mina open up to new people for the first time. Mina had calmed Chaeyoung enough so she could stay with the Kim’s, Mina may be closest to Sana (they are twins after all) but Chaeyoung was someone Mina valued a lot more than she could explain.

It was like they were soul-mates, originally not thought of in the romantic way. The original thought had been that they were destined to be friends and bring out the best in one another. They were cute and just clicked instantly in a way Mina hadn’t experienced before. If you couldn’t tell she didn’t really like people all that much. While the original thought had been more innocent as the duo grew up the feelings began to change. Now as Chaeyoung sat at the table opposite her, chewing her pen as her brow furrowed at the complex world of maths homework, Mina couldn’t help but feel her heart tremble a little. It had gotten worse since she’d dyed her hair blonde, Sana had leant her the hair dye and when Mina saw Chaeyoung an hour after she first entered the bathroom her heart genuinely stopped for a moment.

Chaeyoung didn’t know she felt like this - she couldn’t know.

She could never know that Mina thought about her more than she should, she never knew the way she made butterflies erupt in Mina’s stomach whenever she was around, that Mina got irrationally jealous whenever she would sneak out at night to go hell-raising with Somi. It could never be something that left Mina’s head, she would never say it out loud at all. It made her feel dirty, thinking of Chaeyoung that way. She was meant to view the girl as her sister, they were by all assumption related - maybe not by blood but all eight of them had the same Appas. To feel the way Mina felt was disgusting and wrong, she could only put it down to Chaeyoung being someone she was close to. It must have confused her head and made her think things that couldn’t be true.

But as she watched Chaeyoung chewing her pen, her eyes stayed on the lips wrapped round it. Vaguely she wondered what it would be like to kiss her, that is before the shame of what she was thinking filled her and she was forced to look away. What was wrong with her? It wasn’t like plenty of other people weren’t interested in her, Momo was constantly yelling at people in school for hitting on her sisters including Mina. She knew that she was conventionally attractive, she could get into a relationship if she really wanted to but whoever she was with couldn’t live up to the version of Chaeyoung she created within her mind.

“You okay?”

_ _Even her voice makes me feel weak._ _

_ _

Mina looked up and sent her a tight smile, “Of course why?”

Chaeyoung shrugged, “You just looked really red all of a sudden.”

It was then Dahyun leaned over and touched Mina’s forehead, “You don’t feel warm.”

“I’m okay.” Mina reassured, prompting everyone to get back to their homework,

That was the other thing, the other reason Mina knew that things wouldn’t work out if she told anyone about this disgusting crush. She couldn’t deal with the competition, Somi was bad enough but Chaeyoung had quite a few suitors and despite saying she didn’t like the fourth member of their little group that way it was only a matter of time before the artist found her muse. Someone to write poetry about, draw sketches of, someone who’d make her feel the things she only ever heard in songs. When that time came it would kill Mina. Even though she would vehemently deny it, Chaeyoung was a hopeless romantic. She loved hard as most artists did, when someone caught her attention Mina didn’t know how she would handle it.

As she looked up from her homework once more she didn’t look at Chaeyoung but instead looked at the source of her turmoil. Mina knew heart eyes, she’d seen Sana make them enough and occasionally when no one else was looking Mina would spot that same look on others faces. She’d see someone staring at one of her sisters longingly and usually it would make Mina chuckle.

But whenever she saw Dahyun give that look to Chaeyoung her heart shattered in her chest.


	6. Origins: Dahyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dahyun comes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Homophobic language and sadness!dubu

** **Origins: Dahyun** **

** **

Dahyun had always felt welcome at the Kim’s.

She and Chaeyoung had friends a really long time and so she had always gone over to their house to hang out. She had gotten to know Chaeyoung’s sisters: she had let Nayeon and Jihyo do her make-up, been snuck into parties with Jeongyeon and Momo, been annoyed by “baby Tzuyu” trying to hang with her big sisters, helped Sana defend Mina from negative bitches at school. The Kim’s house became her home away from home, to the point where she didn’t even see her own family during the week since she was always with Chaeyoung. Their house was just so full of life and laughter and chaos that it was addicting, Dahyun’s home was never like this. The joke was that, as Dahyun’s last name was also Kim, she was their biological daughter that had been given up at birth. Nobody disagreed that she belonged with them. She was at the Kim’s everyday, she would get the bus home with the sisters and would either stay the night or be driven home by Heechul after one of Leeteuk’s slap-up dinners. Every single day.

That is except Sunday’s.

Sunday’s were God’s day, every week her mother would pack Dahyun and her brother into their best clothes and drive them over to the creepiest church in Seoul. She’d sit in her scratchy dress, her pinchy shoes, listening to pastor drone on and on about eternal damnation. Her parents ate it all up in gulps and to an extent she did too. Growing up she heard every story, sang every hymn and it helped her mould herself into the ‘love thy neighbour’ type of girl she was. She chose to use the parts of the Bible that taught about love and acceptance to guide her into being who she wanted to be. Religion was a big part of who Dahyun was and she refused to change that. The idea of a higher power having influence, that they were created and not a series of coincidences, that death wasn’t truly the end - it all meant a lot to Dahyun and she truly believed believed in it. So much so that even after being disowned by her supposedly “loving” family she still attended a church, all be it a different church, every Sunday.

The Kim’s very rarely attended the early morning services with her, Heechul and Leeteuk had suffered from the backlash of religious beliefs and so the church left a nasty taste in their mouths but occasionally one of the girl’s would go with her. Momo would attend for the free wafers and when Nayeon had lived at home she quite enjoyed the wine part. Even Chaeyoung, a proud atheist, would sometimes come and sit with Dahyun through a sermon simply because Dahyun had asked her too. The family had their own religious beliefs or lack there of but they never pushed them on Dahyun, respecting that she had every right to believe in whatever deity she wished as long as nobody was hurt. Every Christmas though, Heechul and Leeteuk would brave the strange looks and the entire family would attend the evening mass of Christmas Eve. Not that they really received any, there were a few gay couples that attended Dahyun’s church regularly and all were welcome.

That day she had managed to talk Chaeyoung into attending church with her, they were sat in their nice clothes in the middle of the church listening to the priest. Dahyun could tell her friend wasn’t listening, choosing instead to trace patterns in the back of the bench in front with her finger, however the fact she had been willing to do something she hated just because it was Dahyun who asked made the elder feel warm inside. Her unrequited crush in the artist had caused a lot of trouble in her life, from her first gay panic to her grades dropping from the distractions that came with living with her crush. But the thought of distancing herself from the younger girl caused her physical pain. Chaeyoung was her best friend, she didn’t want to lose their friendship because of her own stupid feelings so she kept quiet. The only person Dahyun was aware knew of her feelings was Somi, she and Dahyun were pretty good friends through Chae and Somi had like a sixth sense for these types of things.

It was kind of Somi’s fault Dahyun fought with her parents that day, she meant well but the intentions weren’t ideal.

_Dahyun was sat opposite her parents, both looking at her with a mixture of disgust and pity._

_She kept her gaze on the table, red rings round her eyes for the hours of crying prior to being summoned down to the dining room for a “little talk”. Dahyun knew what this was about, she wasn’t dumb, she knew the school probably called them after she left her principal’s office that afternoon. She had been lamenting to Somi in the hallway about how she didn’t even know if she was gay or if she and Chaeyoung were really good friends, whether she was reading into her feelings too much. Somi had shrugged and kissed her, dead centre of the hallway and a passing religious studies teacher dragged them to the principal. The principal was actually rather kind about the matter, making sure both girls knew it wasn’t the ‘who’ that was the problem, it was the rules against PDA on school grounds that they were being punished for._

_Dahyun should have realised her parents would have been informed, rookie baby-gay mistake. She could have been mad at Somi for putting her in this situation but she just couldn’t, it had helped prove that Dahyun was definitely into girls and therefore her crush on Chaeyoung was the real deal. The aftermath, however, caused the good of the self-reflection to get lost in the mud. Her mother’s eyes no longer held the loving twinkle they used to hold for her only daughter. Her father could even look her in the eyes, the few times he did his eyes screamed pity. It was like he felt sorry for her, like she was a child that didn’t know the severity of something she had said or done. They weren’t angry, that was the strange part - there was no anger, just disappointment and Dahyun didn’t know whether that’d be better or worse than screaming._

_“Is it true?” Her mother asked, “Did a girl kiss you in the hallway today?”_

_Dahyun only nodded._

_“Did you ask her to kiss you?” _

_Dahyun shook her head._

_Her mother sighed and leaned back in the chair, “Thank the Lord.”_

_“So that’s all it was?” Her father asked, “Okay, good. Was this girl a friend of yours? I should call the school and ensure she’s kept away from you. Obviously she’s very sick and if she’s forcing herself on you--”_

_“Wait,” Dahyun stopped the tirade, heart thundering in her chest, “I may not have asked her to kiss me but she did it to prove a point.”_

_“What point?”_

_A shaky breath was let out, now or never._

_“I’m….I like girls.” Dahyun confessed, feeling the weight leave her shoulders, tears falling down her cheeks, “I tried to stop it, I tried to like boys but….but I couldn’t. I’m not sick and I’m not choosing this believe me, if this was a choice I’d be dating a guy right now but it’s not. I just need you both to understand that this isn’t me trying to hurt you, or trying to act out, this is how I feel. I’m tired of lying: lying to you, lying to myself, my friends….I’m so tired of it. I’m into girls and I can’t help it.”_

_Silence._

_“P-Please say something.” Dahyun stammered looking into her mothers cold eyes,_

_“I don’t know what I can say.” Her mother’s voice was clipped,_

_“The fact that you would sit there and lie to us is the worst part---” Her father snapped,_

_“I’m not lying!” Dahyun was crying fully now,_

_“You’re not?” He scoffed at her, “You expect me to believe that it wasn’t a choice? You choose who you go out with, the fact you would choose to allow yourself to even entertain that thought……”_

_Okay, now he was mad._

_“Why would I choose this?” Dahyun begged him to see, “Why would I want to make my life harder than it has to be!?”_

_“God doesn’t make people gay, Dahyun.” Her mother intervened, “It’s wrong.”_

_“I feel wrong, I feel dirty and shameful but I can’t help it!” Dahyun held her head in her hands sobbing, “I can’t….I can’t….I can’t….”_

_Her father sighed and stood from his chair he walked round the table and knelt next to his daughter, muttering a little prayer before hugging her. Dahyun turned and gripped him tightly, glad for the comfort during one of the most emotionally difficult moments of her life. Perhaps they were listening to her? They were her parents after all, they loved her, they raised her. They wouldn’t just let her go because of something she couldn’t help. Her father stroked the back of her head gently, letting her cry into his neck until she had calmed a little. Dahyun was daddy’s little girl after all, she always had been._

_“It’s okay,” He soothed, “We can fix this, fix you.”_

_Dahyun pulled away, teary eyes staring at him, incredulous, “But I don’t need to be fixed.”_

_Her father sighed once again, “You do, we can send you to this programme run by the church. They’ll make you better. You said it yourself, it’s wrong….”_

_“No. I said I felt wrong.” Dahyun stood, “I feel wrong because you taught me people like that were wrong, but there’s nothing I can do about it. If God didn’t want me to be….to like girls I wouldn’t.”_

_“You’re being silly now,” Her mother chided, “You’ve been led astray, it can be cured.”_

_“But I don’t want to be cured!” Dahyun shouted,_

_Her father stood sharply, towering over her, “You don’t get a say, young lady. I will not have MY child running round and presenting herself as some sort of dyke.”_

_The word stung._

_“Honey, please….don’t refer to her that way.” Her mother intervened again, trying to calm him a little, “She’s been mislead.”_

_“It’s our fault,” Her father growled, no longer listening, “We let you spend far too much time with those faggots, they’ve put these vile thoughts in your head.”_

_“Don’t you dare call them that!” Dahyun’s tears stopped as she got defensive, “They’re good people.”_

_“They’re mentally unwell,” Her father continued, “Bringing children into that twisted household….it’s a wonder they were even allowed to adopt. I wouldn’t be surprised if they faked everything to get their hands on vulnerable young girls…”_

_“You don’t even know them!” Dahyun shouted, “They’re kind, patient, accepting. I went over there all the time to get the love and acceptance I could never get from you. Don’t drag them into this, it’s nobodies fault.”_

_“Well if you love them so much see if they’ll house you.” Her mother told her, “I will not have someone so disrespectful in my house.”_

_“Maybe I will,” Dahyun replied, a cold tone entering her voice, “There is no love in this household.”_

_She began to storm out._

_“Of course we love you Dahyun!” Her father snapped before she stormed, catching her, “Those people are against God. ‘If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination’ - Leviticus 20:13.”_

_“You know what else is in Leviticus?” Dahyun asked, turning back to him, “‘Anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.’ Leviticus 11:10.”_

_“What?” Her father asked,_

_“It basically says not to eat shellfish, much like the oysters you and mother dearest scoffed down last night at that fancy restaurant. Seems you like to pick and choose what you believe.”_

_“Th-That’s different-”_

_“You know what else the Bible says?” Dahyun asked, not letting him continue, “’Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’ Corinthians 13:4-8. There is no protection or trust in this home. But there is only patience and kindness at Chaeyoung’s. So you’re right, maybe I would prefer to be there.”_

_Then she did walk out to go pack, nearly bumping into her brother but storming past before he could say anything._

_ _

The memory, while painful, was something she liked remembering. It was normal to get homesick, especially when she used to be so under thumb with her parents. She would occasionally miss her father’s hugs or her mother’s food. Mostly she missed her brother, he had reached out a few times but she hadn’t been ready to let her family back in then. She had completely distanced herself from all relatives after coming out and it wasn’t like anyone but her brother had reached out since. Sometimes she got sad thinking about it. But then something would happen, Heechul would make a joke or Sana would trip or they’d cheer Momo on at a dance competition and she would confirm that she made the correct decision.

She looked at Chaeyoung who was struggling not to doze off on the pew next to her. Dahyun felt a smile spread across her face as she looked at her friend, her kind friend who had opened her arms to welcome Dahyun into her home when she had no one else. Chaeyoung was one of the most important people in her lives and she could readily admit that she was in love with her. Maybe not aloud yet but to herself she could. As if she sensed the stare, Chaeyoung turned to look at her friend. She smiled softly at Dahyun and Dahyun’s own smile widened a bit at the site of the dimples.

Yes. She definitely made the right choice.


	7. Prank War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeongyeon bites off more than she can chew.

** **A/N - Soooo is ET couple cannon now?** **

** **

** **Prank War** **

** **

Jeongyeon liked most people at school.

Teachers didn’t like her very much, but she could safely say she had no real enemies. Guys loved that she could joke around with them and clap-back, while girls liked that she offered good advice and was funny. Most people just found her day to day pranks hilarious and that was enough to make her one of the more popular girls in school. Even Jennie spared her from her usual glares and snide comments, that was a rarity. Or a miracle, one or the other. However, despite the mutual love the world seemed to have for Kim Jeongyeon, there was one person she could say she hated with every inch of her being. Ting-yan “Elkie” Chong.

And like most tales of feuds it started with a girl. Choi Lia to be exact, the best looking girl in their class in freshmen year. The usual tragic story applied, two friends fall for the same unsuspecting girl and rip their friendship apart. Now if you asked Jeongyeon she’d say that Elkie stole Lia from her, she swooped in when Jeongyeon was off sick and stole Lia away. Elkie, on the other hand, would say that Jeongyeon was jealous of her and Lia’s friendship and started a smear campaign against her. The real reason had since been lost to history, no one knew the real reason for the beef. However, since then the duo were in a war with one another, even after Lia transferred away to some international school. Usually they would ignore each other like the plague but sometimes they’d spend weeks constantly going back and fourth with cruel pranks until one snapped and jumped the other in a brawl.

Nobody knew what had started the latest prank war, but everyone knew when it ended. It was halfway through their senior year when everything took a turn for the worst. Jeongyeon had pulled off the perfect prank and at the time was hidden round the corner in the hallway during lunch. She watched her target approach her locker, talking with Amber Liu in Chinese with no clue as to what was about to happen. The prankster could barely retain her giggles as she watched Elkie enter her combination, when the locker opened there was a loud pop. Blue paint splattered all over the girl’s face as Amber looked on, mouth open in shock. Laughter began ringing out from all over the corridor.

Jeongyeon cackled as she rounded the corner to swagger past, “What’s wrong Elkie? You look a little blue!”

Elkie glowered at her, “KIM!!!”

Momo was laughing at the end of the hallway, awaiting her sister with a high-five. As Jeongyeon’s second in command she was always ready to clap Jeongyeon on the back for a good prank. Jihyo was stood next to her, shaking her head, having rounded the corner with her friend Irene in time to watch the prank. Irene herself was stifling her own laughter, Jihyo didn’t like pranks and Irene knew that so was trying to be a loyal friend. The older two ignored her look of disappointment and instead began making smurf jokes

“I don’t know why you keep goading her like that,” Jihyo tutted, “It just creates an endless cycle of pranks.”

The pranksters exchanged a look.

“So?” Was their reply,

Jihyo rolled her eyes, “Fine just don’t be upset when she gets revenge.”

“I don’t know, Ji,” Jeongyeon grinned, “That one was pretty great!”

“Yeah, it’ll be way to hard for her to top!”

“Like Elkie could top anyone.” Jeongyeon cackled,

Irene smirked, “Apparently she’s been eyeing up your sister.”

The laughter stopped, Jihyo cocking her head, “Which one? There’s like a one in nine shot.”

“Seulgi said that Luna heard from Victoria that Amber told her Elkie has a little soft spot for Tzuyu,” Irene shrugged, “They don’t talk or anything but there are little smiles when they pass each other in the hall.”

Jeongyeon scoffed, “Tzuyu is a foetus. She’s got a few years before she starts dating.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Irene shrugged,

“C’mon Irene,” Jihyo laughed, “Tzuyu is just a baby, she’s not into that sort of thing.”

“She’s too sweet to fall for Chong anyway.” Momo added,

Irene raised her hands in defence, “Okay, okay! Whatever helps you all sleep at night.”

With that laughable suggestion the end of conversation came and the group went their separate ways, possible vengeance far from Jeongyeon’s mind. Her maths class went without issue, everyone complimenting her on the great prank. It was safe to say Jeongyeon’s ego was very much inflated. Even during the next period PE class everybody was talking about it, apparently most of the blue was off her face now but it had taken an hour to get that far. Safe to say Jeongyeon was extremely proud of herself, her happiness even translating to singing and dancing in the showers after the hour of running for PE. When she got out she was whistling to herself as she walked over to her locker….only for it to be empty when she opened it.

“What the….?”

Jeongyeon looked around for her clothes but they were nowhere to be found, she could have sworn she had left them in her locker. Where would they have gone? That was when she noted the blue smiley face drawn on the back of her locker in blue pen. With as much force as she could muster whilst trying to keep her towel on, Jeongyeon slammed her locker shut, “CHONG!!”

Thus Jeongyeon ended up glowering to herself at her groups lunch table, luckily Jihyo had a spare uniform only it was two sizes too small, a skirt and it came with an I-Told-You-So that she did NOT appreciate. However, Jeongyeon’s revenge was already in place. She’d slipped her (and Momo’s the girl just didn’t know it yet) allowance to the lunch ladies to slip some “special sauce” in Elkie’s food. Basically when she took a bite it’d taste like rotting fish heads and cheese. She watched like a hawk as Elkie paid for her lunch, tuning out whatever argument Momo, Hyolyn and Bora were having - something about goldfish and Jurassic Park. She watched Elkie sit with her friends and take a bite of her food…cackling loudly as her face contorted in disgust and she spat out her food.

“For God sakes Jeong.” Soyou rolled her eyes, “Aren’t you bored of messing with her yet?”

Jeongyeon shook her head, “Not when I’m winning.”

She grinned mischievously at her friends before turning back to Elkie and meeting her glare, she waved her fingers in greeting as she took a triumphant bite of her own food. Elkie looked around for a moment and then her eyes landed on another table, something changing in her eyes. She snapped her gaze back to Jeongyeon again, an evil smile playing on her lips as she stood up. This was the moment she upped the game to a new level, all bets falling off.

“What’s she doing?” Momo asked, watching also as Elkie began walking through the tables to one closer to them,

“No clue.”

Then Jeongyeon’s heart stopped as she spotted where Elkie was making a bee-line for. Tzuyu and Hyewon were sat talking quietly, well Hyewon was talking - Tzuyu was nodding along attentively as she ate. The table wasn’t far and the cafeteria was emptying out due to people finishing food and going outside, meaning Jeongyeon would be able to hear every word. She looked around and noticed Sana was also watching Elkie with a confused look, ignoring her friends as the babbled about something Jeongyeon would inevitably think stupid. Tzuyu and Hyewon paused their conversation to look up at the newcomer, Elkie only focusing on Tzuyu.

“It’s Tzuyu, right?” She asked,

“Y-Yeah?” Tzuyu was not good with new people, even if she and Elkie nodded to each other in the hall,

Elkie looked past her for a moment to smirk at Jeongyeon again, then she slipped into Chinese,_ “You’re from Taiwan, right?”_

_ _

Tzuyu paused, _“Yeah…why?”_

_“No reason, I just thought with your sisters being….well themselves you probably don’t get to talk in your mother-tongue much.”_  
__

Hyewon looked confused before excusing herself, planning to meet up with Tzuyu later and find out what was going on. Jeongyeon was going red with fury, Momo stood not liking that they could hear the conversation (Elkie made sure she was loud enough) but couldn’t understand it. They’d never heard Tzuyu speak in that language since they were younger, so knowing that Elkie could say anything without them knowing didn’t sit right. When Elkie’s hand reach forward to tilt Tzuyu’s eyes up to meet hers Jeongyeon noted a hint of fear in Tzuyu’s eyes, protectiveness rose and she stood, Momo following her as she marched.

Only to stop when they realised Tzuyu was blushing. Elkie smiled and said one more thing before returning to her table, leaving Tzuyu staring after her perplexed. Jeongyeon was furious, pranks were one thing but you never bring her family into it. EVER. Sana excused herself and went over to sit with Tzuyu, knowing the younger wouldn’t want to be interrogated by the elder two if they went over. Seeing that Tzuyu was with someone she trusted Jeongyeon spotted Elkie leaving the cafeteria with Amber and gave chase.

“Chong!” She yelled down the vacant hallway, Momo on her heels,

The duo stopped in their tracks.

“Jeongyeon,” Elkie raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, “Can I help you?”

“I made it clear that Tzuyu is off limits, all my sisters are.”

Elkie giggled, “All we did was have a conversation, Tzuyu even said it was nice speaking Mandarin again.”

Jeongyeon stepped up, chest to chest, “If you fuck with her I swear to God….”

Elkie rolled her eyes, “You’ll what? Cover me in paint again?”

“Just back off.” Momo growled, sizing Amber up who stood behind Elkie ready to fight if need be,

“Or what? You still haven’t told me my punishment.” Elkie paused but when there was no reply she clicked her tongue, “Well then…” She began walking back down the hall, “Tzuyu’s a big girl, if she comes to me it’ll be her own choice.”

“She’d never be seen dead with you!” Jeongyeon yelled after her, she just kept walking, “STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!”

But she was gone.

“What a bitch…” Momo muttered, relaxing a little,

Jeongyeon couldn’t help but agree. A line had been crossed, Jeongyeon was protective of her sisters - the only one more so was Appa Heechul. If that blue faced, fake, knock-off barbie doll thought she could go anywhere near one of her sisters she had another thing coming.

Because if she pulled something like that again Jeongyeon would rip out her extensions and make her swallow them.


	8. Origins: Chaeyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaeyoung makes a promise she can't keep.

** **Origins: Chaeyoung** **

** **

Twas the night before the weekend and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even….well you get it.

After a busy school week most of the girl’s had gone to bed at reasonable times in order to rest up for a fun weekend with their Appas turning in at around midnight. The house was still with only Momo’s snores causing any real noise, that was until someone decided it was safe to get out of bed and the rustling of sheets interrupted the peace of the night. Chaeyoung looked carefully over at her roommate, Dahyun curled up in a deep sleep was unlikely to catch her and so she pulled off her duvet and sat up. She had gone to bed fully clothed, it lessened the likelihood of being caught before she left. This wasn’t her first time sneaking out, nor would it be her last. Chaeyoung tiptoed over to the wardrobe and quietly opened it, she had stolen Mina’s body pillow earlier in the day to place under her sheets. Dahyun was unlikely to wake before morning, Chaeyoung should be back by then, but wouldn’t be awake enough to really register anything other than a Chaeyoung sized lumped in her bed.

With the pillow strategically placed Chaeyoung pulled on her boots and her fingerless gloves. She checked on Dahyun one more time, smiling a little at how cute she looked when she slept, before tiptoeing out into the hallway. Each step was carefully placed, she had long since mapped out the creaky floorboards allowing her to sneak in and out unnoticed. Momo and Jeongyeon had showed them all this route when they snuck them out for their first party. Her backpack had everything inside perfectly placed at to not jingle too much. Once she slid down the bannister (the stairs were too loud to risk a misstep) she quickly ran out the door and bolted to where Somi’s Umma’s car was parked on the street.

“What took you so long?” Somi asked,

“Appa Heechul was up watching TV for a while,” Chaeyoung explained, settling into the passenger side, “Couldn’t risk getting caught.”

Somi started the car, “We doing this?”

“Of course,” Chaeyoung scoffed, “Old bastard has it coming.”

With a laugh Somi sped off into the night. Chaeyoung loved trouble, the thrill of being chased by police and the buzz of doing something she shouldn’t be. She thrived in the situations where only adrenaline was required. The freedom she felt when sprinting away from an authority figure gave her purpose, it was addicting and she loved it. It didn’t take them long to reach their targets home, he was an elderly man that lived a few blocks away. Chaeyoung had heard him call her Appas some awful names when she went to church with Dahyun last week and Somi had floated the idea of egging his house which of course Chaeyoung was all for….until she had a better idea. They were nearing the house when Chaeyoung rolled the window down.

“Ready?” Somi asked,

“Hell yeah!”

She grabbed Somi’s softball bat from the back seat and leaned out the window, back facing outwards as she sat on the window ledge with the bat read to swing. Somi had one hand on the wheel and another on Chaeyoung’s belt loop so that she wouldn’t fall out, she drove as close to the pavement as she could as fast as she reasonably could. Chaeyoung readied her swing and….

_ _BANG!_ _

_ _

The bat hit his mail box and flew down his driveway. Both girls gave a cheer and Chaeyoung got back into the car laughing. This. This was the moment she liked - pulse pounding, speeding a stolen car down the street, knowing she could get in trouble at any moment. The duo ended up stopping by the local park and jumping the fence to sit on the swings. It was locked up at about 10pm but that never stopped them anyway. Somi was sat on her swing texting someone, she and Chaeyoung never really talked about that sort of crap like dating and crushes. They preferred joking around and getting in trouble. So Chaeyoung ignored her, stood on her own swing going forward and backwards - watching the dark city in the distance. She vaguely wished she had her sketch book, the city looked pretty early in the morning.

Most people were scared of the city at night but Chaeyoung never had been, she may be small but she is mighty. When she ran away from her orphanage broken and bruised she met some of the strongest women she would ever know, they took her in and taught her everything she needed to survive on the streets. Unfortunately, there was a lot of turn over on the streets and so those women disappeared quickly when they got arrested or killed or something worse, then Chaeyoung would be left to new people - eventually Chaeyoung would probably become one of those women for someone else. She thought that would be her life, stealing from rich bystanders in order to pay for food and eventually teaching her knowledge to some other lost cause, buying time before she eventually got arrested. But as the cliché says, one day she met the Kim’s and it all changed.

_It was supposed to be a simple pickpocketing._

_She leaned against the wall of an ally way with her hood up over her ears, hundreds of faceless people had passed her and she had gathered a little bit of cash from past marks. Chaeyoung would usually describe herself as reckless, but when it came to pickpocketing she would meticulously plan every detail. She was only a kid and a small kid at that, so she knew picking on a 6”4 body-builder would be stupid. Anyone athletic looking for that matter was a no go, Chaeyoung was good at running long distance but not that good. Usually the best targets were the skinny people, if they were distracted or holding a lot of items it was even better. However, she’d never go straight for her mark, she’d watch them for a while first as to search for the perfect time. It was never worth risking her freedom by being stupid and not waiting for a police officer to leave._

_From where she was stood she had a good view of her potential target as he browsed the stalls in the market. He had a heavy looking brief case, clearly having just left his job which told Chaeyoung two things: one was that he would have a good job and therefore a lot of money, two was that the heavy briefcase would stop him giving chase. When he happened to stop at a particularly busy stall she saw her chance, he was distracted as he spoke to the lady running the stall. She moved through the crowd fluidly, barely noticed in the bustle of the city. Everyone was too self centred to take notice of her and she was fine with that. He had his back to her and she could make out the outline of his wallet in the back pocket of his trousers._

_Silently, she approached._

_One foot in front of the other._

_There were too many people surrounding him for the stall owner to warn him, she couldn’t see Chaeyoung step closer to him. She rubbed her hand on her trousers before reaching out carefully, her little hand reaching ever closer. The problem was however well she calculated her marks, occasionally things happened that were out of her control - a policeman rounding the corner at the wrong moment, a bystander stopping her….her mark reaching for his wallet at the exact same time and their hands colliding._

_“What the…?” The man grabbed her wrist on instinct and turned round to look at her,_

_Chaeyoung froze for a second before trying to pull her hand back, he kept his grip - not enough to hurt but enough to stop her slipping out of his grip. He looked stunned, this girl couldn’t be older than Mina. The stall owner’s attention, as well as that of those around them, were now on them both._

_She tsked, “Filthy rat, get them all the time around here.”_

_“I’ll go find the policeman.” One man said turning to go,_

_“Wait,” The mark stopped him, “She’s my daughter.”_

_Chaeyoung froze again, why would he lie for her?_

_“I told her I wouldn’t buy her any sweets,” He continued lying, “A little rebellious, I blame her mother.”_

_Chaeyoung looked around at the bystanders, all staring at her, “Y-Yeah….I was trying to sneak his wallet. Sorry, A-Appa.”_

_“We’ll talk about it at home young lady!” The man snapped pulling her away from the crowd,_

_Chaeyoung followed along dazed, however when they were far enough away he stopped by a bench._

_“Sit.”_

_The younger girl did so, still perplexed. Usually she’s be giving a sob story to a policeman about now, nobody ever lied to protect her. This man looked almost amused._

_“What were you planning to do with my wallet?” He asked,_

_Silence._

_He sighed, sitting next to her, “If it’s for food I’d be happy to buy some for you, but you need to tell me. I can’t let you just run off with my wallet.”_

_“It was for food…..”_

_He nodded, “My name is Leeteuk, may I ask yours?”_

_More silence._

_Leeteuk sighed again before standing, “Come on, I know a nice little restaurant we can eat at - you can get whatever you like.”_

_“What are you, some kind of pervert?” Chaeyoung finally asked studying him closer,_

_He laughed, good naturedly, “Not at all, my daughters are around your age. I just wish to help you, we’ll get some food and then I’ll drive you back to your orphanage.”_

_He had assumed she would be in an orphanage, the idea of a girl this young living on the streets was devastating. But then Chaeyoung’s face changed from angry to scared, fear covering every feature leaving Leeteuk as confused as she had been earlier._

_“Please don’t take me back there.”_

_Leeteuk paused, “I have to take you somewhere, they’ll be looking for you.”_

_“Please!” She begged, “They haven’t looked for me since I ran away, don’t make me go back!”_

_“Why not?” He knelt in front of her,_

_Kind eyes watched her and his tone had softened, Chaeyoung had never known anyone to be so gentle. She couldn’t look at him, but she couldn’t lie to him either not when he was being so kind to her, “They beat me there. I’m homeless.”_

_Leeteuk thought it over a moment, “Do you want to be homeless?”_

_The little girl shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks._

_“Would you come with me to the police station and tell them your story?”_

_“They wont believe me…”_

_“They will,” Leeteuk told her firmly, “I’ll make sure of it.”_

_Chaeyoung scoffed, “Then what? They’ll just move me somewhere else.”_

_“My husband and I have six adopted daughters, if you like we always have space for another. I wont let you stay on the streets.”_

_It sounded too good to be true but Chaeyoung had to try, if only to see if his story was for real._

_“You’re gay?”_

_“Is that a problem?”_

_Chaeyoung shrugged, “Guess I don’t have to fear you being a perv.”_

_Leeteuk chuckled._

_“Can we eat before we go to the station?” Chaeyoung asked, looking up at him unsure,_

_“Of course, anything you want.”_

_He stood again and this time Chaeyoung stood too, they walked out of the market together and down the street towards the restaurant he had mentioned. She didn’t really know him well enough to trust him, but Chaeyoung liked being reckless. If she had the option of making a better life she should take it, if it didn’t work out she could come back to what she knew. This man, Leeteuk, was kind and gentle, if there were anyone to trust it would probably be him._

_“Chaeyoung.”_

_“Pardon?”_

_“My name is Chaeyoung.”_

“What’re you thinking about?” Somi asked, they were walking back to the car now as the sun had began coming up,

“Nothing major,” She lied, “Just that I really need to get home before anyone wakes up.”

Somi nodded and soon the duo were speeding through the empty streets again. Chaeyoung couldn’t wait till one of them got their licence and they could drive legally during the day. Joy riding was fun and all but being able to drive her own car and not risk being taken home by police for the umpteenth time was also appealing. The drive was quick, they ran every red light and broke every speed limit to get to Chaeyoung’s as fast as possible. She just stared out the window the whole time, watching the sunrise over the buildings. She always loved sunrise more than sunset, it meant that something new was beginning, something pure and bright. Every dark corner would be lit as the night was chased away, all the monsters in the dark scared away too.

They arrived at the house and Chaeyoung jumped out, saying goodbye to her friend and heading inside. She opened the door silently and crept it, making sure the door didn’t slam as she gently pushed it closed with a light click. Chaeyoung’s height had always made stealth relatively easy, she prided herself in being extremely sneaky - it was the one thing she liked about her small stature. As she closed the door she used this time to congratulate herself on a successful sneak out, then she turned round to see a furious penguin standing at the foot of the staircase and promptly shat herself.

“Jesus, Mina!” Chaeyoung breathed, hand on her chest, “You scared the crap out of me.”

Mina looked angry, “Where have you been?”

Chaeyoung thought about not answering but Mina looked furious and furious Mina was terrifying. Even if she was stood, arms crossed, in Momo’s baby pink bathrobe and her penguin slippers on Chaeyoung feared for her life. She tried to smile somewhat breezily but it just looked awkwardly forced, “Just….out for a walk?”

She phrased it as a question and Mina was not amused.

Mina opened her mouth to say something, but shook her head, “Do you even care?”

“About what?” Chaeyoung cocked her head, “Going out late? I lived on the streets I can handle it.”

“What if police picked you up?” Mina snapped, “Appas already have so much to worry about.”

Chaeyoung shrugged, “They drive me home, give me a warning and leave me as Appas problem.”

Mina looked at her and Chaeyoung began to notice her eyes were sparkling, “You don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what? Mina, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Chaeyoung was confused,

She step forward to comfort her but Mina shifted away.

“You can be so brilliant when you want to but so stupid.” Mina let a few tears out, wiping them away on the back of her hand,

Chaeyoung felt a little insulted but somehow she realised she deserved it for upsetting Mina by…..doing whatever it was that made her cry.

“Minari…don’t cry…please, tell me what’s wrong.”

“They’ll take you away!” Mina snapped,

“W-What…?”

Mina swallowed, trying to speak clearly, “If Appas can’t control you, social services will take you away. Why can’t you behave? Why wont you be good!? Do you hate us that much?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks all over again, Chaeyoung felt her own well up and she ran forward to hug Mina tightly. The other girl sobbed into her neck as guilt filled the shorter of the two, “I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”

“Just be good.” Mina cried,

“I will,” Chaeyoung promised rubbing her back, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.”

It would be hours before anyone else woke up, it would be their Appas. They would come down and find the duo fast asleep, cuddled up together on the sofa. They’d coo at how cute they were before going off to make breakfast.

Not noticing the red rings around their eyes or the dry tear marks on their cheeks.


	9. Teacher's Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tzuyu is circled by a shark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel Special…….dude……wow
> 
> Also I sometimes post on Twitter so…..@Elcten

** **Teacher’s Pet** **

** **

Over the last month or so Tzuyu had come to quite like Mr Tuan.

He was fun and made lessons enjoyable, plus he understood her quiet nature and so made a point of skipping over her in class discussions. Whenever he did this or the few times he “forgot” to check the homework that Tzuyu had forgotten to do he would send her a little wink. His way of telling her that he had her back. Whenever they talked one on one after class he would only speak Chinese with her, that mean a lot to Tzuyu as it was pretty rare that she got to talk in her native language. They would talk about everything and anything after class, not just school work which Tzuyu cherished in a way. Usually, the focus was always on her sisters, it was rare for her to be the centre of attention. Mr Tuan never once asked if she was related to Jihyo, or told an anecdote of a prank pulled by Jeongyeon in class. It meant a lot to her to have her own friendship and life far from her sisters.

If you asked Hyewon however, she would describe it very differently. Mr Tuan was creepy, he’d hang around near the girls changing rooms and come up with excuses to go in when the cheerleaders were changing. He’d get students phone numbers and suggest “one on one tutoring”. Plus the way he acted around Tzuyu who was too naive to notice it. Hyewon didn’t know whether telling Tzuyu would be right, the girl had obviously had a rough upbringing and she seemed so happy to have this inappropriate friend. In Hyewon’s mind, as long as Tzuyu wasn’t in any danger the Korean girl could keep an eye on her. She did once tell Tzuyu how inappropriate Mr Tuan was sometimes towards her but she genuinely seemed to think wink and shoulder touches were innocent. Tzuyu had never told her why she had gone into the foster system but if she thought Mr Tuan’s actions were innocent Hyewon hated to think what she thought sinister looked like. It was just a shame Tzuyu didn’t seem to realise how creepy the man was, his actions making his intentions at least somewhat obvious.

For example, a few weeks ago they were all stood at their tables doing an experiment Mr Tuan had written out for them on the board. Tzuyu and Hyewon were in a pair, struggling to get the measurements correct as everyone else tried to drag out the group work for as long as possible. Mr Tuan himself was walking around the classroom, checking in (and checking out) each group in an attempt to look helpful. Some of the stupider girls in her class still thought he was a dreamboat but the general consensus was that he made everyone feel uncomfortable, therefore when he got closer they shied away. At a later date when Tzuyu confessed to Hyewon about what life in Taiwan had been like she would wonder how someone could know so many horrors but still be so naive. Anyway, the duo had been trying (and failing) to find the missing chemical for the last ten minuets. They were down to their last few vials and as Tzuyu dropped a singular bead of the final chemical in the duo said a silent prayer. Hyewon began stirring and to her delight it began to react correctly.

“Yes!” Tzuyu hissed, glad it was over,

“We are total geniuses!” Hyewon beamed,

“Ignoring all the empty vials….”

“Obviously.”

It was then Mr Tuan got to their table, “你好, Tzuyu! Hello, Hyewon - how’s it going?”

Hyewon swallowed the bile in her throat as he eyed her lab partner.

“We finally managed it,” Tzuyu beamed, proud that the trial and error had worked out, “Only took like a hundred tries.”

Mr Tuan laughed, “Well done, girls! You’re the first ones to---oops!”

He had gone to lean on the side of the table and accidentally (or so Hyewon assumed he was trying to convey) knocked Tzuyu’s pen on to the floor. His eyes widened as fake sincerity covered his expression and he began rubbing his lower back.

“Tzuyu, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to knock your pen off, I’d pick it up but I pulled a muscle yesterday lifting weights at the gym….”

Hyewon rolled her eyes, weird flex but okay.

“...could you pick it up? I don’t want anyone tripping on it.”

Tzuyu, ever the obedient student, walked round her desk and bent down to pick it up. Completely oblivious as Mr Tuan watched her backside as she did so, a sick smile on her face. Hyewon shuddered and looked across the aisle to see a couple students watching with disgust on their face. They all knew Tzuyu was one of the girls at school who was oblivious to Mr Tuan coming on to them, she wasn’t one of his fangirls either. Hyewon reasoned that since Tzuyu was a logical thinker she couldn’t find anything wrong with picking up her pen from the floor, it was hard to watch. It was like Tzuyu needed to be protected 24/7 but would rather die than accept it. She couldn’t handle herself as well as she wanted everyone to believe.

There was only one time Hyewon noticed Tzuyu was uncomfortable with how Mr Tuan was acting. Usually, lessons in which students are made to watch some sort of educational video that’s a few years too old to contain relevant pop-culture references are usually class favourites. Only Mr Tuan did them a little differently, once the video ended he’d leave the lights off and put various science questions on the board that were covered in the video. He would then wander round the room and pick on people to answer. As he was wandering round Hyewon noticed him homing in on Tzuyu, albeit slowly - like a shark circling its prey before swallowing it whole. She felt her own anxiety rise as he neared, Tzuyu being too transfixed by what was on the board to realise what was about to happen. Luckily they had time due to the previous girl answering.

“Inhalation, open wounds?”

“Very good!” Mr Tuan grinned, “So now that we know how they can get into the body, What is it that makes diseases caused by viruses and bacteria hard to treat?”

He was at their table now, once again eyeing Tzuyu like a dog with a bone.

“Tzuyu?” Mr Tuan called upon when he was right behind her,

He was resting both hands on either of her shoulders that instantly became tense, for a moment Hyewon put it down to Tzuyu’s known introverted ways and hatred of people in her personal space…but then she noticed the genuine fear that flashed through her eyes and she realised that there was something else. Something more sinister. The poor girl’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish but yet the answer slipped her mind, Tzuyu didn’t know why she suddenly felt so afraid. All she could focus on was how he did not want him touching her.

“Come on, Tzu - you just watched the video.” He began gently rubbing her shoulders,

It would have been hard to see from the other tables but Hyewon was right there, she reached under the table to grab her friend’s hand only for Tzuyu to startle and move her hand quickly away. Tzuyu didn’t want anyone else touching her, she was already feeling so uncomfortable - even more so when she realised the whole class were waiting for her answer.

“I….I…..I don’t know…”

“C’mon Tzuyu!” He shook her shoulders in what was meant to be a playful way and Tzuyu let out a shaky breath, “Were you even watching the video?”

“I don’t know.” She said firmer, her voice sounded a little strained and Hyewon frowned,

Mr Tuan tutted, “Anyone else know?”

When he finally stepped away, Tzuyu’s entire body sagged in relief. Though her shoulder felt burning hot, she wanted to leave. In fact she was moments away from running from the room to dry heave in the girl’s toilets but to her luck the bell rang signalling the end of the day. The lights stayed off, the room only illuminated by the light of the interactive whiteboard. Mr Tuan dismissed them, sitting on the front of his desk. Hyewon felt relieved making packing up as quickly as she could.

“Tzuyu can you wait a moment?”

Hyewon paused and looked to Tzuyu who sent a forced smile, “You go ahead, I’ll text you later for homework answers.”

“Okay…” Hyewon looked to Mr Tuan who was checking his nails, “If you’re sure…”

With Hyewon gone, Mr Tuan and Tzuyu were the only two in the room. He smiled kindly to her and shuffled over to pat the desk next to him. Tzuyu went and sat down, trying to get over the random anxiety attack she had been having moments before. She was in Korea now, living with her Appas she was safe. Things like before wouldn’t happen here….right? Mr Tuan turned and took the question sheet he had been looking at earlier to go over some of the bits Tzuyu didn’t know, the girl began to relax - he was only helping her with the parts he had observed her noticeably struggling with. He was being a good teacher, she had nothing to worry about. What happened next would remain a secret for along time, with more to come it would come out when it all did but the phrase most commonly associated with this act would be “testing the waters”.

“Do you understand now?” He asked, having long since slipped into their private shared language,

Tzuyu nodded, “My brain just blanked earlier, I can be such an idiot sometimes.”

“You’re not an idiot.”A burning hand patted her thigh before resting there, “You’re beautiful, Ziyu.”

Tzuyu stammered at the contact, to shocked to say much, especially when the hand rubbed gently back and fourth a few times and squeezed. Bile rose up her throat again and fear consumed her. An old faceless voice sounded in her head:

_Well look at you, so young - so beautiful._

_ _

She flashed back to previous experiences and realised her situation, she stood sharply and grabbed her bag. She vaguely registered Mr Tuan calling after her as she sprinted out but she didn’t stop, nearly crashing into Elkie who had been lurking in the hall as she escaped for whatever reason. Tzuyu only looked up, fear in her eyes and tried to stammer out an apology. Elkie looked her up and down and asked her in Mandarin if she was alright. The language caused more flashbacks, Tzuyu had to close her eyes and focus on them to make the voices stop. Then when her eyes rose and met Elkie’s worried ones the older girl was shocked to see nothing in them, no more fear, no life, nothing. Tzuyu heard one more voice, the only face she could really remember. Her skeleton of a Mama.

_It’s Mama and Ziyu’s little secret, if you tell anyone you’ll get into trouble and my good girl would never do that._

_ _

“I’m fine.” Tzuyu answered in Korean, “Just….tired. Excuse me.”

Tzuyu then walked calmly down the hallway, leaving Tzuyu to stare after her. She heard the science room door close and turned to see a visibly frustrated Mr Tuan storm away, Elkie had heard the rumours of him. She had bumped into a worried Hyewon pacing by the doors and the younger girl, knowing Tzuyu and Elkie were somewhat friends, had expressed her concern. Elkie had told Hyewon to go home, that she’d check in and make sure Tzuyu was okay. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. She clicked her tongue and walked out slowly, the same way Tzuyu had gone. Nobody would believe her without proof and Tzuyu didn’t seem too keen to say anything. All Elkie could do was join Hyewon’s vigil, be silent in the shadows until Tzuyu was in danger.

However, something told her the girl already was.


	10. Origins: Mina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina may not be loud, but she will always be heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER - So I planned this chapter before Mina was diagnosed with her anxiety order, it is not meant to offend and I am unsure how often it’ll be mentioned within the story because it is a little too close to home. Also I wish I had done it more justice, not happy with this chapter.

** **

** **Origins: Mina** **

** **

If you were to ask a neighbour about the Kim’s house there would be one word they would all agree best described it: Loud.

When they were younger and out playing in the neighbourhood, the Kim girl’s would scream and yell at each other out of excitement for their games, sometimes even fighting in the middle of the street. Nayeon often forced her sisters to perform in little plays she directed, screeching at them from her directorial sun-lounger when Jeongyeon would whine about always being the male lead or when Sana had forgotten her lines again. Jeongyeon and Momo in their early teens would blare music from their bikes and pull pranks all over the neighbourhood driving those who lived there insane. The entire group were just naturally loud, they had many noise complaints and police visits over the year. Added to the fact that the two homosexual men were living in a particularly conservative area their neighbours hated the household with a passion. Between Momo and Sana’s bickering, Jihyo’s naturally loud voice and that one summer Jeongyeon took up the saxophone the Kim household was constantly full of noise. They were just loud people.

Well most of them.

Leeteuk himself was rather quiet and Tzuyu learned long ago that she would never get a word in edgewise so stopped trying but Mina….Mina was extremely quiet. She was naturally quite soft spoken, used to Momo and Sana speaking for her in their youth. She didn’t like a lot of noise, sometimes going as far as to avoid the main bulk of her sisters antics by sitting in Tzuyu’s room with the younger saying absolutely nothing to one another. It wasn’t that she never had anything to say but rather she was so quiet she was often talked over and eventually it became frustrating having to wait for someone to notice her lips moving and hush the others so she could speak. Usually Chaeyoung would notice and let everyone know Mina wanted to say something, but then Mina would get all eyes on her and she’d feel to nervous to actually say her thought aloud.

It’s why she liked ballet, it was graceful and peaceful. Years of discipline and training that meant that for one hour every week she could be in a space with no screaming or yelling. Instead she was performing beautiful, elegant moves with other quiet, studious people. Mina liked quiet, she really did - she found loud places increased her anxiety and occasionally when things got to much she would suffer from anxiety related panic attacks. Since she’d been living with the Kim’s they had stopped being a regular occurrence but once or twice, Sana or Momo had been asked out of class to go calm her. It was the same situation as when Sana was scared of the thunderstorms outside, Mina would be calmed down and scooped into a hug until her Appas came to get her. Chaeyoung and Dahyun were also very good when these rare moments happened, Chaeyoung would hold her hands over Mina’s ears to stop the noise reaching them till she was at a safe distance and Dahyun, when near a piano, would happily play gentle or calm songs to bring down her anxiety level.

Basically, all her sisters made a point to make her feel cherished and loved. For the most part it helped, they made her feel comfortable and safe but that couldn’t always be enough. It was Jennie that had sparked it this time, the girl was in Mina’s gym class and since Sana wasn’t, it was the only time the Korean had to make Mina suffer. She hated Mina, nobody quite knew why but when Sana wasn’t around Jennie began her torture. They’d been playing basketball and Mina had so far hung back and avoided all contact with the ball. This was her talent, fading into the background long enough for gym to end without her getting all sweaty, only this time someone noticed her sports aversion.

The basketball slammed into her chest hard when the coach wasn’t looking, Mina was sent careening to the floor. All game play stopped and from where she lay on the floor she could hear everyone around her laughing. Jennie stood over her, having grabbed the basketball before walking over. She was grinning maliciously down at the fallen swan.

“Oops.” She laughed,

Mina looked up, somewhat afraid, before trying to stand. Only Jennie threw the ball down next to her head, a large bang echoing through her ear which stalled her. Noticing the visible fear in her reaction, Jennie caught the ball and did it again, laughing maniacally when tears sprang to Mina’s eyes. The third bang brought with it a dark memory which was enough for Mina to roll to her feet and sprint out of the gymnasium towards the girls bathroom. Her hands braced the sink and she panted staring into the mirror.

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

_The car journey had been long and bumpy, each time the wheels went over a bump there was a loud banging sound like the car was close to falling apart. Mina had been forced to lay in the back of the smelly old car with no clue if she was being taken where her sisters were. She was forced to keep her hands either side of her on the sharp turns, scared she’d fall into the foot well if she didn’t keep a tight grip. When the car eventually stopped Mina felt motion sickness course through her, she was pretty sure she had turned bright green. The blanket covering her prevented her from seeing outside, but she could smell salt through the damp of the blanket, almost like they were by the ocean. The rain had stopped sometime ago, or at least there was no more sounds of rainfall. She didn’t know how long she had been laying there, shaking and afraid, but after what felt like hours she heard the door open and the blanket was pulled off, one of the masked men looked down at her._

_She opened her mouth to say something, only for a filthy had to cover it._

_“You make a sound I tell the others to throw your sisters overboard, got it?” He growled,_

_Mina nodded, confused by his wording but too scared of the threat in his voice to disagree. Suddenly she was being scooped up and pulled from the car, dropped ungracefully on the deck of a small fishing boat. There were no lights on the boat and only the car that Mina had been stored in was parked on the deck. Later it would be confirmed at the get away vehicle. Sana and Momo were cuddled up together in a corner, crying and scared. Immediately, her eyes sought Sana and Momo who pulled her to them, cuddling her close while the men discussed their next move. Now that she was out of the vehicle she could feel the waves gently rocking beneath her, not helping her motion sickness. Mina kept her face buried into Momo’s shoulder, her big sister cuddling them both to her - refusing to let them go. The boat swayed gently and the men continued ignoring them, letting the trio stay close to one another._

_They sailed for a while, every time the men got too close Momo would tighten her grip and glare at them. Momo was never usually this protective but knew that her role as the elder sister came in important in this dire situation. Despite how scared they were, they were still kids and therefore the waiting for something to happen bored them. Eventually the trio stood, not moving away from each other, so that they could look over the side and watch the twinkling lights of a city that seemed to be getting closer. They were sailing for a few hours, Mina didn’t say a word the whole time - the threat from before hanging in her mind. She was only young and so didn’t know her geography well enough to tell what city they were head towards, however the closer they got the more lights she noticed._

_There lights were different, they were moving - torch lights._

_“There are people on the beach.” She whispered, _

_Her voice was lost under the waves._

_“Shit!” One of the men growled when he spotted them moments later, “The cops must have called the Korean’s ahead of time.”_

_Police? Those torches were police._

_The boat was too close to turn now, the men could only pray they went by unnoticed - but Momo had heard them and wasn’t about to just let that happen._

_“We need to shout for them.” Momo told them, “We need to get their attention.”_

_“No…Momo - we’ll get in trouble.” Sana hadn’t stopped crying since reunited with her sisters and she was clinging to Momo and Mina to tightly for them to do much,_

_Mina looked round, the torches were close enough to hear them if they shouted loud enough…maybe she could…._

_“Sana, get off we need to yell for---”_

_“HELP!” Mina summoned the sound from somewhere deep inside her, somewhere she had never spoken from before,_

_The men turned, her sisters froze and the police…..couldn’t hear her._

_Mina was lifted from where she stood and slammed on the wall to the captains deck or whatever it was called. It was the man who had been driving her car, “I told you not to make a sound!”_

_“LET HER GO!” Came a bellow from Momo as she charged towards the man that was touching her little sister,_

_The man dropped Mina and caught Momo, he lifted her and slammed her into the ground - head first._

_Momo went limp. Sana was screaming. Mina was silent._

_Mina stared at Momo’s motionless form, it was too dark to see the colour of the liquid coming out of her head but it didn’t take much imagination. The man looked somewhat surprised but said nothing, while the third man shut Sana up, the lead pulled Mina to her feet and turned her to face the beach. He leaned down, foul smelling breath right next to her face._

_“You can shout little girl, but nobodies listening.”_

_Mina looked out at the torches, now walking away from the water as they combed up the beach away from where the boat would dock. They were close enough to hear orders being shouted now, Mina could try and call out again…but what was the point? Nobody was listening. The fight left her as she replayed Momo landing on her head and crumpling into herself over and over, tears fell from her face onto the already wet deck. _

_“OW!” The second man yelled, hand leaving Sana’s mouth, “Little bitch bit me!”_

_Mina may have felt defeated but nobody could ever shut Sana up._

_The scream that came out of the elder twin’s mouth in that moment echoed around the sea front. Mina watched the torches stall, then turn towards the boat._

_“THERE THEY ARE!”_

_ _

“There you are!”

Chaeyoung appeared next to her in the mirror, making Mina’s flashback break for a moment as she hyperventilated. Gentle hands rubbed her shoulders, trying in vain to calm her. Rose, one of Sana’s less than evil friends, had messaged Sana telling her that Mina was having a breakdown. Sana had tried to leave class and when she couldn’t she shot off a message to the others basically saying: if you can go, go! Chaeyoung had been in her study period when she got that message and had immediately responded that she had gone to find her. Over the years the family had found little ways to calm Mina when she was in this state, starting with Dahyun who had done some research into it when she had first been alone when Mina was having one.

“Mina,” Chaeyoung muttered, “Five things you can see come on….”

“I can’t Chae…” Mina whimpered, “I-I-I….”

“Five things.”

Mina took a shaky breath, “Th-The mirror, a s-stall door, hand dryer…”

“Good girl, two more.” Chaeyoung was rubbing her back now,

“...the-the s-s-sink, um soap.”

“Okay, four things you can hear.”

“You, p-people outside, breathing and….and…dripping…the tap dripping.”

“Three things you smell.”

“We’re in a bathroom Chae…”

Chaeyoung chuckled, happy Mina had been calmed enough to make jokes, “Fair, two things you can feel.”

“The cool counter top and your hand on my back.”

Said hand stalled a second before continuing its movements, “And one thing you can taste.”

“My cherry chapstick.” Mina rolled her shoulders, she rolled her shoulders, feeling the waves of anxiety fading now that she was out of her head, “Thanks Chae.”

“Any time.” Chaeyoung muttered, tucking some of the elder girl’s hair round her ear,

Chaeyoung sent her a small smile when Mina looked at her, still rubbing her back.

“MINA!”

The door slammed open, scaring the daylights out of them both.

Mina tensed until Sana slammed into her front, cuddling her and forcing Chaeyoung to have to forcibly free her hand. Jeongyeon and Momo arrived not long after, both immediately checking over the youngest Japanese while Chaeyoung smiled from nearby and Sana remained glued to her. Jeongyeon had a note that she had gotten from Jihyo, explaining to Mina’s next teacher that Mina had been excused from the first ten minutes for medical reasons, giving her some time to relax after the bell rang. After a few minutes Tzuyu appeared, having grabbed Mina’s stuff from the locker room when her own gym period started however she was quickly told to go back to class before she got detention.

Sana walked with Mina to class, arms linked. Mina was turning over the note, smiling to herself. So she didn’t like it when things were loud, so what if she couldn’t shout over everyone else? At the end of the day her family knew this and would make sure they heard whatever she had to say whether she thought it was important or not. When called upon they would always hear her, they’d never leave her to suffer silently.

Because they would always hear her pain, even if she said nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave prompts :)


	11. Aunt Sunmi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aunt Sunmi is the best aunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a prompt from AFF user faithd21 and with a lot of help from chaeyu cult member Danna who saved my butt with this one.
> 
> Also FINALLY Nayeon appears!

** **Aunt Sunmi** **

** **

Growing up with two Appas was great, none of the Kim girls could say anything negative about their Appas.

Leeteuk was a natural nurturer, he looked after them and made sure that his girls grew up being fed three meals a day and that every permission slip was signed. He was the one who would check up on them regularly, go down to the school and fight their corner when needed. When they were sad he’d be waiting with open arms and sound advice, making sure they were all warm and safe and loved. Appa Heechul was the rock of the family, if his girls were crying he’d make them laugh, if someone hurt them he’d demand names and go marching down there. He taught them to ride their bikes and kissed their scraped knees when they first fell off their bikes. Truly, there were no better parents and each of their daughters adored them dearly.

However, their Appas were also two homosexual men and therefore they lacked a certain important knowledge when it came to raising nine young girls into healthy well adjusted adults. A few occasions had arisen in which the girls had been caught in an awkward position or had awkward questions that would give the two males stress induced heart attacks (Heechul would never forgive Chaeyoung for asking what sex was at a VERY busy bus stop). During these times they needed professional help and that help came in the form of Leeteuk’s younger sister Sunmi. Sunmi was the only person in Leeteuk’s family that had stayed in contact, she didn’t care if he was gay or not and despite her initial protectiveness for her gentle brother she had come to adore Heechul. Thanks to her presence the men had someone that they could force the girls to direct all awkward questions to.

Sunmi was the coolest aunt ever, she had been a wild child going up and so had good help and advice for almost every problem the girls brought to her. She lived in her own apartment in the city centre and kept a spare key at the front desk for when her favourite nieces came to visit. She was an open woman, she had no secrets and while that often scared Leeteuk he was grateful that he didn’t need to discuss the ins and outs of femininity with his daughters. Over the years the girls had gone to Sunmi with various problems and quests, she was always happy to help even if just to spend time with her family. The usual family events she attended were awkward and stagnant, all mention of her brother and his family was banned so being able to have fun with her nieces made a nice change of pace.

These are some examples of problems the girls chose to take to Sunmi over their Appas….or that their Appas had decided they were out of their depth.

Nayeon had always admired her Aunt Sunmi, ever since she was adopted the young girl got very quickly used to going on day trips and being spoiled by her favourite aunt. When she was a child she adored the older woman and always wanted to be just like her, in her teen years this intensified to the point where she would come over to Sunmi’s apartment every week to get life advice or talk through problems she hadn’t felt comfortable bringing to her Appas. Mostly they would just hang out, when Nayeon had been adopted Sunmi was in her final year of high school so they were kind of close in age. Close enough at least that they could form a strong friendship, they’d often just hang out at Sunmi’s house until Leeteuk or Heechul appeared to take Nayeon home. It had been Sunmi who had pushed her into pursuing theatre at college, she had gone to every play Nayeon had acted/directed in and wrote a strong letter of recommendation to get Nayeon into her ideal school. Sunmi was a relatively popular actress, not of the level of being instantly recognisable but if you said her name people would know generally who she was.

When Nayeon went to college it was like she dropped off the face of the earth, she messaged occasional updates through the family group but mostly she was AWOL. Living her life in college as only a recent high school graduate could, probably doing things her family would never find out about and they’d be happier remaining ignorant. From her social media everyone assumed she was enjoying her time at college, not concerned with coming back to visit and even going as far as to put online that she was sad she had to leave for Christmas vacation. It was her first time back since going an hour away for school and Leeteuk had told Sunmi that something had been a little off. At first Sunmi didn’t think much of it, instead choosing to let the family sort out whatever was happening but when Nayeon turned up at her apartment one afternoon asking if they could talk Sunmi felt her concern grow for her eldest niece.

She lead the girl inside and they sat on her white couch, Sunmi pouring them both a glass of wine (hey she knew the habits a gal would pick up at college), “So what’s up buttercup? Your Appa said you’ve been a little down.”

Nayeon swirled her wine in the glass, “It’s kind of stupid, I don’t want to worry them.”

“Spill it.” Sunmi demanded, not liking the usually confident girl acting so unlike herself,

Nayeon took a sip of her drink, “I want to drop out.”

That had not been what Sunmi expected.

“But you looked like you were really enjoying yourself.” Sunmi said, referring to the large collection of photos Nayeon had been posting online,

Nayeon sighed and blinked back tears, “I’ve met some amazing people and my course is great but….”

Sunmi raised an eyebrow, “But?”

“I miss everyone.”

Sunmi was suddenly flashed back to when Nayeon was an overly confident kid meeting her for the first time and her heart shattered.

“Oh…Nayeon….”

“I feel like I’m so far away,” Nayeon continued, taking a tissue from the dispenser on the glass coffee table, “I missed Jihyo’s big debate last week and Momo’s first time choreographing the school musical. It’s like I’m living two different lives and I just want to stay with the one I had.”

Sunmi placed a gentle hand on her knee, “Have you talked to your Appas about all this?”

Nayeon shook her head violently, “They spent so much on my college tuition I couldn’t throw it back at them like that.”

Sunmi frowned, “What you’re feeling is normal. You’re far away from home for the first time, but you’re only an hour away and I know for a fact your Appas would love for you to visit more. You’ve moved out and it’s scary, but you’ll regret it if you throw it all away.”

“You really think they wouldn’t mind me visiting more? Coming home for weekends and stuff…?”

Sunmi laughed, “They love ya kid, of course they wouldn’t mind. Just talk to them.”

Nayeon mulled it over and gently put her wine down, hugging her aunt tightly, “Thanks Aunt Sunmi.”

“Any time.”

Jeongyeon and Sunmi had a more humorous relationship. They were very similar in terms of certain personality traits, mainly that they both enjoyed messing with their siblings. Now her mother had always told her that grown women don’t partake in childish pranks, however Sunmi was in no way a mature woman and so would continue to mess with Leeteuk at every available moment. When the girls were young, Sunmi would often babysit for them and she would willingly admit that most of Jeongyeon’s prank repertoire came from herself. One particular afternoon Sunmi and Jeongyeon had orchestrated their favourite prank, they had recruited all the girls and hidden throughout the living room. Heechul and Leeteuk had gone to take Tzuyu to her very first archery training session and they were going to be gone for hours. In this time Sunmi had gone on a hellish trip to the toy store (which they unanimously decided could never be mentioned again) and loaded up on various projectiles. Marshmallow guns, silly string, paint, balloons - they’d even gone to the grocery store to get some flour.

They all waited for at least half an hour before the mini-van pulled up on the driveway. The moment the trio stepped through the door hell erupted and all three were covered in a sticky gooey mess. Heechul had immediately run for, and disarmed, Sunmi yelling for the girls to betray her as Jeongyeon valiantly fought for her mentors honour against the rogues. All were laughing and having fun until a furious Leeteuk began scolding them all, a crying Tzuyu now in his arms. When they had attacked the younger girl had been coated with the mess, the brand new team uniform she had gotten today was covered in gunge. Jeongyeon laughed at her, making some remark about her being a baby and then earned another scolding. Everyone went to clean up whilst Jeongyeon sulked in the living room, mad that Tzuyu had ruined their fun. Sunmi hung back to check on her, expecting Jeongyeon to be upset she was told off. This was at a very stressful point in which Tzuyu was still new to the household and the girls were a little unhappy at her sudden appearance, it was normal and a short phase but it was a very delicate time.

“Stupid Tzuyu…”

“Hey! None of that.” Sunmi chastised lightly,

Jeongyeon huffed, “But she ruined the fun! All she got was some stuff on her stupid shirt.”

Sunmi sighed, “Before you came here, how many nice shirts did you have?”

Jeongyeon blinked and cocked her head, “What?”

“Before living with your Appas, how many nice shirts did you have?”

“None,” Jeongyeon shrugged, cheeks still puffed in a sulk, “We only got second hand stuff.”

“Didn’t you get excited when Appas bought you those new clothes and toys when you first got here?”

“Yeah…”

“Well now it’s Tzuyu’s turn,” Sunmi explained gently, “She’s never had nice clothes before, just like you didn’t. Would you have liked it if someone had ruined all your nice clothes?”

“...”

“I’m waiting.”

“No.” Jeongyeon relented,

Sunmi ruffled her hair, “Look, Tzuyu’s one of you now. She’s gonna need her big sisters looking out for her.”

“But she doesn’t even talk to us!” Jeongyeon whined,

“Mina didn’t either at first, she would only speak Japanese remember?” Sunmi reminded her gently, “Tzuyu doesn’t have anyone to speak her own language to, it’s very lonely. A good big sister looking after her would be somebody really grown up.”

“I’m grown up!”

“Are you?” Sunmi beamed at the new light in Jeongyeon’s eyes,

“Yeah!” Jeongyeon grinned, “I can look after her!”

Sunmi had only chuckled, letting the girl run off to apologise to her newest baby sister.

Momo had never really approached Sunmi first, she adored her aunt but usually Sunmi was occupied with the other girls. However, Momo always valued what the older woman had to say and while she would never seek the advice she would happily take on board anything that Sunmi had to tell her. Recently Sunmi’s washing machine broke and so she was using her brothers at the house, it was evening time and the only person in the kitchen was Momo who was sat at the table staring at the maths homework in front of her. Sunmi wasn’t entirely aware if Momo even knew she wasn’t alone in the room, the girl had a tendency to be a little oblivious sometimes so the lack of conversation was not something Sunmi took offence to.

“Urg!” Momo shouted suddenly, scaring the absolute shit out of Sunmi and slammed her head on the table,

“Don’t hit your head like that, Mo!” Sunmi told her walking over to check on her,

“It’s too hard!” Was the response whined into the table,

“What is it?” Her aunt asked, sliding on to the stool next to her,

Momo picked her head up, pouting, “College entrance stuff. I don’t even----never mind.”

Sunmi’s interest was peaked, “Don’t even what?”

“It’s not important.”

“Momo, come on - tell me.”

Momo sighed, “I don’t even want to go to college…I got offered the chance to work at my dance studio after graduating.”

“That’s great Momo!” Sunmi beamed, feeling proud, “You must be a great dancer if they were that eager to bring you on.”

“But Appa Leeteuk keeps going on and on about how important college is and I….I don’t want to let him down.”

“Listen to me,” Sunmi placed delicate hands on the girl’s shoulders, “Nobody knows what’s better for you than you, if you don’t think college is the right path then you need to tell them that. You have an amazing opportunity and even if you didn’t take the job and chose to work at some fast food place for a while it wouldn’t matter, you Appas would still love and support you - they’re kind of cool like that.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, maybe talk to Nayeon too?” Sunmi remembered her conversation with the eldest, “Find out what you’d be missing and whether or not college would be the right fit. If you do your research and make a plan then they’ll support you and so will I.”

Momo looked at her, nerves shining, “I just don’t want to let them down.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Sunmi told her honestly, “They’re so proud of you all, for coming as far as you have and overcoming so much that they’re honestly not going to care if you wanna dance for school or dance for money…..”

Momo raised an eyebrow.

“Definitely phrased wrong,” Sunmi blushed, “But heed my words child!”

“Thanks Aunt Sunmi - you’re the greatest.”

“I know.”

Now the girl she saw the most was definitely Sana. Sana was nearly the body double of young Sunmi: a flirty, popular, wild child who had a different crush or infatuation every week. The first time Heechul had walked in on his most…outgoing daughter’s latest “study session” he kicked out the girl and lectured Sana for an hour. The second time he pulled his hair out. The third time he called Sunmi to reason with this devil child. Over the years Sana had been marched to Sunmi’s many, many, MANY times to be given a various sex talk or discussion about her behaviour and those stories are too many to find just one to show the close bond between Sana and her Aunt. Sunmi saw herself in Sana and so made sure she was always in the loop with the girl’s comings and goings, she was well aware of what could happen on a wild night. The story in this regard we will focus on will actually be about Mina, Mina very rarely needed advice but when Sunmi saw her with bruises on her arms questions had been raised.

When she found out Mina was being bullied she was furious….

When she found out it was a friend of Sana’s she was ready to throw hands!

Mina swore her to secrecy saying that she didn’t want to give Jennie any reason to pick on her more and Sunmi understood but chose to let her Appas know (so that they could keep an eye out) and offered to have a word with Sana. They met up in a coffee shop after school and had an enjoyable time, they were discussing some wild party story and Sunmi decided to finally bring it up.

“.…anyway once the clown car left with the police we were able to put back the gnome.” Sunmi concluded as Sana cackled,

“How did they not see the ghost?” She could barely get the words out she was laughing so hard,

Once it had died down Sunmi had her chance, “Listen, I heard Mina had a panic attack at school.”

Sana’s eyes turned sad, “Yeah, Ms Kang wouldn’t let me out of class to help her. It was awful.”

“Any idea what caused it?”

“No clue. She wont say.”

Sunmi hummed, “Maybe just keep an eye out, if someone’s messing with her they’ll show their hand eventually.”

“Believe me,” Sana snapped, “If I find out someone’s bullying her again they wont find the body.”

“You’d hide a body?” Sunmi chuckled,

“Hey!” Sana was genuinely offended, “I’m a threat!”

“Of course you are, darling. Now finish your cupcake.”

Sunmi was the greatest aunt, it could never be disputed. She was the first to find out Jihyo had a crush on this guy in her class, she would pick up Chaeyoung from the police station at any time of night just to stop her brother from finding out and stressing himself. She was the woman who let Dahyun stay with her, no questions asked when her parents decided to try and force her from the Kim’s. Sure it was only for one night whilst her father camped outside their house waiting for her but Sunmi made sure the younger girl was kept at ease the entire time. They were her girls, nothing was going to happen to them whilst she was around. If they couldn’t go to their Appas they could always go to her and no matter what the issue was she would make sure she would support them.

However, despite her best intentions sometimes she can’t save them from the world or themselves.

She’d try though, she would always try.


	12. Origins: Jihyo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jihyo will never become her mother.

** **Origins: Jihyo** **

** **

Jihyo had her head screwed on straight.

When she finally got to high school Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Momo had been attending for two years and one year respectively. Teachers had dreaded the addition of three more Kim children to the school, whilst Sana was immediately another Nayeon/Jeongyeon devil hybrid and Mina was practically mute - Jihyo was a shock to the faculty. She was studious and hard-working, quick to take charge and a natural leader. It was soon found that she was the only person alive that could reign in her brood, often being summoned from class to lecture a sister whom refused to listen to their teacher. It was her role in the house when her Appas weren’t around, she was the responsible one, the one who made sure Jeongyeon and Momo didn’t trash the house or made sure the youngest three did their homework on time. She was the one with common sense. Miss Independent.

Which is why it made absolutely no sense when she began to lose her mind.

It started subtly, due to the schools being owned by the same person and only over the road from one another JYP Boys School and JYP Girls School shared the same school buses. It was the only time really during the day that the groups mixed and even then most of the students were too awkward or tired to really interact. So basically Jihyo’s interactions with the other gender were limited at best. She had been sat next to Tzuyu on the school bus one morning and noted that their bus had made a new stop, usually this bus only stopped in four places before reaching the school coming in from the north side of town but this time an extra stop had been added. Jihyo made it a point to remember these types of things, some call it neurotic she calls it key attention to detail.

Then a boy got on whom she had never seen before. He was pretty attractive but then again, Jihyo had seen many attractive boys that attended the school and they had never really caught her attention. But for some reason Jihyo’s eyes kept drifting over to him, he was sat towards the front laughing with another guy - completely oblivious to Jihyo’s presence. When Tzuyu elbowed her in the ribs to tell her it was time to get off Jihyo was snapped out of her thoughts, concerned that she had just stared at this poor boy for upwards of fifteen minutes. Her concern then consumed her mind the way his face had just before and she was so distracted that when she stepped off the bus she tripped on nothing (AKA Pulled a Sana) and fell forward.

She was one hundred percent ready to eat concrete, feeling Tzuyu grab her arm in vain, however it didn’t happen. Instead strong arms caught her shoulders and she was gently pushed upright again on unsteady legs. It was him. He had kind eyes and a teasing but gentle smile.

“Woah, easy there!” He laughed,

_His voice…._

_ _

“Uh, thanks.” Jihyo stammered, immediately stepping back (on to Tzuyu’s foot) and tucking her hair behind her ear, “I’m not usually that clumsy.”

He hummed, “You seemed to be in your own world, I’m Daniel.”

“Me too….”

_What?_

_ _

__“__What?” He smirked,

“What!?” Tzuyu cackled behind her,

“What?” Jihyo blinked and replayed the conversation, “Oh sorry…J-Jihyo….is my name…not Daniel that’s your name.”

He raised and eyebrow and Jihyo wanted to die.

“Well J-Jihyo,” He teased, “It was nice meeting you, see you around!”

“Y-Yeah.” She muttered as he turned and ran over to his friends,

_What the heck was that!?_

_ _

“That was….something.” Tzuyu’s voice brought Jihyo back to reality,

The elder girl blushed, “You….go to class!”

As she stormed off Tzuyu called after her, “We’ve still got twenty minutes!”

Jihyo made her way to the student council room, internally panicking. She had never been that affected by someone before, when he looked at her it was like her brain short-circuited and everything she said was cringey and embarrassing and made her want to die. Jihyo scolded herself, boys were trouble. She didn’t need one, she wasn’t her mother - she was strong and independent. Too hard-working and self-reliant to be reduced to mush by some guy. Jihyo had always been in dependant, she had to be. With Jeongyeon always in trouble and her mother under their step-dad’s abusive thumb there was nothing she could do but learn to look after herself. Her step-dad had never taught her much but he had let her learn that bad men can ruin good women.

Like how he ruined her mother.

_Jihyo and Jeongyeon’s mum was not a bad mum by any means._

_She was loving and kind, she loved her daughters so much it hurt her when they were apart. Their biological father had left when Jihyo was born and since then it had been just them and her against the world. She would drive them too and from daycare and school, singing songs at the top of her voice in the front seat as Jihyo and Jeongyeon babbled badly behind her to the music. Her mother loved the aquarium and so every weekend they would go and see the fish, they knew all their names and the staff recognised them. The girls loved spending time with their mother and their mother loved them dearly. _

_When their step-dad had entered the picture Jihyo had been four, he had been nice at first. He would buy them presents or let them spend what they wanted at the gift shop of the aquarium. He and their mother got serious very quickly and within a few months he had convinced her to leave her job and move in with him, so they did. He provided for them but Jihyo noticed he wasn’t as nice as he used to be, he would snap and eventually shout and scream at them - mostly Jeongyeon. This meant Jeongyeon would act out more to get back at him and he would yell at her until she was crying. The older Jihyo got the more she recognised that he wasn’t actually a very nice man, he was just pretending to be. _

_But because he was their sole provider now, what he said goes._

_Their mother began to change too, she stopped singing in the car and was at smiley or as happy as she used to be. The woman that had once radiated energy and joy now only presented fear, in a house that was now filled in icy tension rather than the love their old house held. Jihyo was five when she noticed the black marks appearing on their mothers skin, she would crawl into Jeongyeon’s bed at night when she would hear them fighting downstairs. There’d be banging and screaming, she’d never heard her mother scream like that. Like she was afraid. At daycare all the other girls daddy’s were kind and made them feel happy and safe, but Jihyo’s new daddy didn’t make her feel that way. She didn’t know why but she cried when her mother married him, every photo had Jihyo’s little tear stained face in._

_But when she turned six her world changed._

_It was a Friday night and Jihyo had been too excited to sleep, her mother had promised that tomorrow she would take them back to the aquarium without the devil-man. Because she couldn’t sleep she decided to do what most kids do which was go downstairs and pretend to be getting some water. So she she did, she crept down the staircase and immediately heard arguing causing her to stop as her mother and step-father stormed into the hallway._

_“The girls are so excited - I promised them we’d go and have a girls day.”_

_“I don’t care what those twirps want, you don’t go out without me. I am your husband you will do what I say and I say you aren’t going anywhere tomorrow.”_

_“I made a promise and I will be keeping it.” Her mother snapped,_

_“Like hell you will!”_

_Jihyo then watched as her mother, her beautiful, strong mother, was punched to the ground. She scurried up the stairs as quick as she could and pretended to be asleep, the next morning their trip had been cancelled. Her mother was sporting a black eye and said nothing all morning, Jihyo watched her with knowledge no six year old should ever have. In that moment she decided she would never let a man control her the way her step-dad controlled her mother. She would never be a beaten down woman, from then on Jihyo learned to fend for herself. By the age of eight her mother was a ghost and Jihyo knew how to cook dinner for both herself and Jeongyeon, they’d be taken into foster care that year and Jihyo would always miss her mother but she wouldn’t miss that house._

_The tension always reminding her that they could set off her step-dad at any time._

“You okay, Ji?” Irene asked,

Jihyo snapped out of her thoughts, “Yeah, just deep in thought.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Not really.” Jihyo smiled,

She then set to work, pushing that Daniel guy far from her mind. She wouldn’t become her mother, men were nothing but trouble and she wasn’t about to let any man stop her from achieving her dreams. The hustle is real and Jihyo lived for it.

Even if when she had a rare moment of peace she thought back to his gentle smile and kind eyes.


	13. Second First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wolf in sheep's clothing finally attacks the little lamb.

** **Second First Kiss** **

** **

Tzuyu had been avoiding Mr Tuan as best she could.

In class she would shy away from his touches, no longer ask him for help with her work or stay behind after classes. Hyewon knew something must have happened to change Tzuyu’s behaviour, whenever they stepped into class the girl would go from laughing and joking to quiet and cold. She’d been acting off for a while lately and only Hyewon really noticed, her family were super busy at the moment so she understood why they had yet to notice the changes. Hyewon was worried but happy that Tzuyu seemed to have realised that Mr Tuan didn’t have to best intentions, still she watched from afar and occasionally found that Elkie was also. Hyewon wasn’t as oblivious as everyone else seemed to be, she recognised that Elkie’s interest in Tzuyu probably was more than just platonic. However, that was for those two to figure out.

Tzuyu had managed to survive another science lesson, Mr Tuan had realised he couldn’t approach her any more without her giving a negative reaction ergo it was too dangerous for him to pursue her during class time. The bell rang and Tzuyu could breathe again, immediately standing to get her stuff into her bag as quickly as possible. It was the end of the day and she planned to sprint for the bus as soon as she reasonably could. She was safer the further she was from this classroom, only her plans never seemed to work out the way she wanted them to.

“Tzuyu,” Mr Tuan called, “Would you wait a moment?”

Tzuyu froze.

Hyewon smiled at her kindly, “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Thanks.” Tzuyu breathed out, thankful her friend would be waiting nearby,

As her class mates filed out, Tzuyu remained in front of her desk - awkwardly playing with the strap of her bag and not making eye-contact. He looked her up and down, eyes raking up long legs and pausing a moment where her skin disappeared under her skirt. He then looked up and Tzuyu shied from his gaze. Why wasn’t he speaking? Usually they couldn’t shut him up but now he was so quiet. Then she heard the voices of students in the hall drifting further and further away and it dawned on her - he was waiting for there to be nobody around. She felt panic rise and began mapping out her escape.

“So we need to discuss the report you turned in.” He said after a moment in their shared language,

Once she enjoyed speaking it with him, now she realised it was so nobody else could hear the things he said to her.

“I-I got an F on it…” Tzuyu confirmed quietly,

“That you did.” He stood,

Tzuyu had failed but she didn’t know how, Jihyo had helped her with it.

“M-My sister helped me so I don’t know how I failed.” Tzuyu stepped back as he walked towards her, positioning herself by the wall so that anybody walking past the door’s glass panel would see what was going on,

It didn’t deter him, or he didn’t notice, as he continued walking towards her, “What you turned in was good…very good in fact.”

He was right infront of her and Tzuyu stepped back, her behind hitting the metal cabinets that lined the wall. Mr Tuan leant forward trapping her either side by his arms.

“Th-Then why did I fail?”

He chuckled, “So you would be aware that I control your grade.”

“G-Get off me!!”

“Oh I will,” Mr Tuan chuckled darkly, “In a moment.”

It was as though the wolf was pulling off his disguise to eat the little lamb, a wolf in sheep's clothing is most dangerous after all.

“I’ve been patient,” Mr Tuan growled, “I’ve been kind, I’ve been good to you. But when I asked for something you said no? That’s selfish and I know what I’m owed.”

Tzuyu couldn’t speak, memories of her childhood flashing up in her mind.

“You owe me,” Mr Tuan continued, coffee breath hitting her face, “For every tutoring session, for every little excuse I let slide. All of it and until you pay up you wont be getting more than a D grade in this class. You could maybe try and tell on me, but who will they believe?”

Tzuyu could feel she was shaking, she couldn’t move. In her head a little Tzuyu was banging on invisible walls telling her she could go, run, scream - ANYTHING! Except underneath the panic and the anxiety was a twisted sense of familiarity. She knew what he wanted, hell she probably knew how to do it…how to make him happy. When she first got to Korea her Appas made a big thing about teaching her that she had a right to say no, they taught her that she would never have to do anything she did not want to do which was a power she had never had before. But here she was, given an ultimatum and trapped in a position by the same type of man as before. He was right nobody would believe her, she had past trauma and the school would just blame that for her ‘misconstruing friendly behaviour’.

His sick smile told her that he saw defeat in her eyes.

She looked down, a lone tear rolling down her cheek.

“Aww, poor thing.” He hummed, wiping the tear away, “Relax, I’ll make you feel really good.”

Then chapped lips were on hers and her eyes widened. A lot of awful things happened when she was younger, but every man she was brought to was told the same set of rules. No kissing, no penetration. When she realised this man had taken her first kiss her mind began screaming at her to get him off. She didn’t want this, she didn’t like this. Get him off! No. No. No. No.

“No!”

She shoved him hard but he didn’t budge, instead his hands went to hold her arms still in a bruising grip. He went back in, his scaly tongue prodding at still lips. Then he was torn away from her, another form having knocked him down as a distance voice called for help. Tzuyu was still frozen, back sliding down the cabinet to place her head on her knees on the floor. Hyewon had done as promised, standing outside the classroom even as everyone else left to go home. At first she was concerned that it was taking so long, watching through the glass panel from the other side of the hallway, then Tzuyu stepped into view and as Mr Tuan approached she had the greatest idea she would probably ever have in her life. She pulled out her phone and began filming, planning to be prepared with hard evidence.

“What the hell are you doing?” A new voice sounded,

Hyewon turned her head to see Elkie stood there looking confused on her way to detention, “Tzuyu’s in there with Mr Tuan and I wanna make sure that if he does anything there’s proof.”

“That’s pretty---”

_THUD_

_ _

Both girls turned to look through the panel and froze in shock, Tzuyu was pinned to the cabinet with that sick bastards lips pressed against hers. Hyewon kept filming, to stunned to do anything but while Elkie’s mind raced a mile a minuet. Then when Tzuyu began trying to push him off something snapped inside her and she bolted. If Tzuyu didn’t want this he should stop, he should never have done it anyway but if Tzuyu said no she meant no. Not really thinking things through she tackled the teacher to the floor and began to punch him where ever she could land them. Hyewon spotted their headmistress down the hall and began calling to her. Elkie had never felt this furious, Tzuyu had trusted this guy and he had betrayed her. Tzuyu! Tzuyu who was shy and kind and innocent - who didn’t deserve this.

Suddenly she was pulled away, Mr Choi from the classroom next door restrained her and Coach Kang pulled Mr Tuan up.

“YOU PERVERT!” She screamed as she was pulled back, “YOU SICK, TWISTED, EVIL, SON OF A BI---”

“That’s enough Ms Chong.” Principle Yeeun said sternly, eyes glued to the video Hyewon had thrust into her hands as she had run to soothe Tzuyu, “Mr Choi, Mr Kang please keep Mr Tuan company whilst I call the police.”

“It’s all a misunderstand---”

“Enough.” Principle Yeeun snapped, “You can talk to the police. Girls, would you come to my office please?”

Hyewon helped Tzuyu up, Elkie felt more fury fill her as she saw how shaken up Tzuyu was. The girl was trembling on her feet. The girls were taking to the principles office and they each gave their statement….except Tzuyu. Tzuyu stayed quiet, not wanting to speak. Elkie kept side eyeing her, but her gaze never left the spot on the desk.

_It’s Mama and Ziyu’s little secret, if you tell anyone you’ll get into trouble and my good girl would never do that._

Luckily there was enough proof that Tzuyu didn’t need to give her statement at that exact moment so the principle offered to just call all their parents. Hyewon declined, saying she was going to go and catch the last bus before it left. She squeezed Tzuyu’s shoulder before she went, promising to text her later and check in. With the video now uploaded on to the computer in the principles office she had done her part and was welcome to go home. Elkie was sent to detention with a note, excused from the half she had missed but still expected to stay the last half while Tzuyu…Tzuyu didn’t speak. Elkie spared her a look before she went and wanted to say something comforting, but she couldn’t.

“So Tzuyu,” Principle Yeeun asked, “I have three emergency numbers to call.”

“C-Could you call my Aunt?” Tzuyu asked,

“Lee Sunmi?”

“Yeah,” Tzuyu swallowed, “I want to tell my Appas, please? It’d be better coming from me.”

Principle Yeeun sent her a look, “You promise that you will tell them? I will need to let your social worker know and they’ll contact them so it can’t stay a secret. I’ll talk to them if you need me to.”

“No, I-I-I need to control how they get told…if that makes sense.”

Principle Yeeun looked at her sadly, “I’m so sorry this happened on my watch Tzuyu, I promise we will make sure he’s locked up for a long time.”

“Sure.”

Her aunt was called and informed of the situation, she was also told over the phone that Tzuyu wanted to tell her Appas herself and so Sunmi couldn’t call ahead. She argued a little but understood and told Tzuyu she’d be right there. Now excused, Tzuyu sat on the outside steps watching cars speed by on the street. Police had wanted to talk to her but Yeeun had explained that none of the girls were in a position to talk about things now so requested they come back next week. Tzuyu felt like she wanted to cry, but the memory of him wiping her tears made her more resolved to stay unphased. She was weak in front of him, she would never be that weak again.

“Hey, kid.” Someone called in Chinese,

Tzuyu tensed before realising it was just Elkie.

“How you holding up?” Elkie asked, sitting next to her on the step,

“Shouldn’t you be in detention?”

“Eh,” The elder girl shrugged, “I think I can skip it due to heroic doings.”

Tzuyu felt her lips turn up, glad Elkie wasn’t looking at her with the same pity everyone else had, “Thank you.”

“It’s okay,” Elkie nudged her, “He was a sick bastard.”

Tzuyu hummed in agreement.

“At least it was only a kiss.”

Tzuyu froze.

Elkie studied her, having become accustomed to how Tzuyu reacted to things normally she could tell something was up, “It was only a kiss right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Tzuyu swallowed, “But it was my….”

“First?” Elkie scoffed, “Asshole…”

“Indeed.”

“That sucks.” Elkie said kindly,

“Talk about a bad first kiss story.” Tzuyu sighed, “I know it probably seems stupid but I always wanted my first kiss to be with someone I trusted. It was important to me.”

“That’s not stupid.”

Elkie looked at her, the way the sun hit her face as sad eyes watched the parking lot entrance for the blaze of fury that was a pissed off Aunt Sunmi. She was beautiful, too beautiful to be taken advantage of by some sick old man. How could someone do something so evil to someone so pure? Elkie knew a thing or two about cold exteriors, she could read the pain beneath the statue still demeanour. Elkie had paced the entire time Tzuyu was in the office alone, wanting to check on the girl and not knowing how. Now here Tzuyu was, happy to talk to her in their own secret language and Elkie could see how much that demon taking her first kiss meant to Tzuyu. Before she even registered what she was doing she had reached out to tuck a loose hair behind Tzuyu’s ear, the younger girl didn’t tense but in fact visibly relaxed a little.

“Do you trust me?” Elkie asked,

“Is it weird that I do?” Tzuyu chuckled, “Jeongyeon would have a fit.”

“Look at me.”

Tzuyu raised an eyebrow and looked at her, Elkie leaned forward and pecked her softly. It was different than the sloppy kiss Mr Tuan had given her, it was warmer and sweeter. Rather than stretch open in horror, her eyes naturally closed finding comfort in the quick action. Elkie pulled away almost as quickly as she was there with an uncharacteristically shy smile, Tzuyu felt her lips turn up but at her.

“There,” Elkie whispered, “You’re first kiss with a guy may have sucked but at least your first kiss with a girl was better.”

Tzuyu’s smile was a grateful one, “Thank you, for everything.”

“Any time, kid.”

Tires screeched as Aunt Sunmi broke every speed limit possible, car skidding to a stop in front of the duo. Tzuyu said goodbye and Elkie was surprised with a hug before nervously getting into her aunt’s car. Immediately she was pulled into another hug and threats were pouring from the older woman’s mouth directed at her science teacher. Promises of vengeance and retribution and murder were spoken and Tzuyu’s head span a little with how fast her Aunt was talking. They’d never been close, Tzuyu didn’t trust very easily and Sunmi was very different to herself, but like she would for all the Kim children Sunmi would readily do jail time in order to get revenge on whoever wronged her precious niece.

“Are you okay?” Sunmi said, pulling away and holding Tzuyu’s face gently,

Nobody had asked Tzuyu that yet and so she paused. Was she okay? No. Not in the slightest but she didn’t want to worry Sunmi more than she already had, however she was also a terrible liar and so decided to meet in the middle with her reply.

“I will be.”

Her entire afternoon seemed to blur by and soon they were outside her house, the noise of chaos travelling outside from within. Sunmi offered to help her tell them but Tzuyu declined, she needed to know that it was okay for her to talk about these things. She never had before, not in Taiwan and certainly not to her Appas. It would stupid for her to assume they didn’t know what she had done when she was younger, what had been done to her, but she had never openly talked about it ever. The police and social workers knew only through rumour and her nodding to yes or no questions. Tzuyu stood outside the front door and swallowed her nerved, she HAD to know it was okay for her to talk about all this. To open up and be vulnerable.

The usual chaos didn’t deter her, Jeongyeon and Momo were arguing as Jihyo practised her solo for choir upstairs. Mina lay on the couch playing a game, head resting on Chaeyoung’s lap as she sketched Dahyun, the girl herself was playing her recital piece on the keyboard Appa Heechul had bought her that stood in the corner. Sana sat on the stairs, cackling with the rest of the witches on her phone as they talked about Jennie’s new boyfriend. Heechul wasn’t around but Tzuyu did spot Appa Leeteuk stood cooking in the kitchen. Going unnoticed she walked in and stood by waiting for her Appa to notice her. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. Leeteuk jumped a little when he saw her.

“Sorry, Tzu - you snuck up on me!” He laughed,

“Sorry…Appa, I need to talk to you about--”

“Oh! Try this!”

A spoon was thrust in her face, containing some of the soup cooking in the pot. She nervously sipped it.

“Tastes great but I need to tell you something import---"

“You sure? I thought it needed a little more salt…”

_It’s Mama and Ziyu’s little secret, if you tell anyone you’ll get into trouble and my good girl would never do that._

“Appa!”

“Huh?”

“You’re not listening to me!” Tzuyu’s desperation showed in her voice making Leeteuk finally take note that she…she didn’t look okay,

“I-I’m sorry, sweetheart. What’s the matter?” Leeteuk asked, “Something happen at school?”

Tzuyu took a deep breath, this was it. Finally someone was going to listen to what she had to say, no more secrets.

“Y-Yes something did…”

“What happened? Are you alright?”

“W-Well---”

“SURPRISE!” Nayeon’s loud voice announced as the eldest Kim daughter slid into the kitchen followed by Heechul, “Guess who’s home for a little school breeeeaaaak~!!”

“Nayeon!” Leeteuk smiled walking over to hug his eldest, “Look at you!”

“Girls!” Heechul called, “Come see who’s here!”

As everyone filed in, Tzuyu kept her distance. Watching as smiles and hugs were exchanged, everyone looked so happy.

“Sorry, Tzu!” Leeteuk scolded himself, “You were saying something.”

They looked so happy…

_It’s Mama and Ziyu’s little secret, if you tell anyone you’ll get into trouble and my good girl would never do that._

She couldn’t ruin how happy they all were.

“Ahh! Baby TzuTzu!” Nayeon squealed pulling Tzuyu into a hug,

She couldn’t say a word.

_It’s Mama and Ziyu’s little secret._

_ _

“Let her go Nayeon,” Jeongyeon teased, “She’s trying to tell Appa something, it’s not always about you.”

Maybe it wasn’t always about Nayeon but it was NEVER about Tzuyu.

She made a decision.

“Nothing important.” Tzuyu smiled tightly, “Excuse me.”

She released herself from Nayeon’s grip and went upstairs to attempt to shower off the familiar dirty feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. Her Appas watched her go as the other girls went into the living room to catch up. Heechul noticed the look on Leeteuk’s face, it was his typically worried Appa expression.

“What’s up?”

“Tzuyu wanted to talk to me about something, it seemed important.”

Heechul shrugged, “She’s a teenager - EVERYTHING seems important. I’m sure she’d tell us if it was something serious.”

Leeteuk sighed and leaned back in his husbands arms, “You’re right.”

“I have to be sometimes.”

Leeteuk laughed and went back to making dinner as Heechul joined his daughters in the living room. They laughed joked and would eventually settle down to a nice meal.

Unaware that Tzuyu was sat in a scolding hot shower sobbing into her knees, praying that the dirt would wash away.

But it didn’t.

It never did.


	14. Origins: Jeongyeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If nobody else would protect them, Jeongyeon always will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unimportant but here is the room situation as of this fic:
> 
> Nayeon has her own room.
> 
> Jeongyeon and Jihyo share.
> 
> J-Line share.
> 
> Chaeyoung and Dahyun share.
> 
> Tzuyu has her own room (used to be a linen closet)

** **

** **Origins: Jeongyeon** **

** **

Jeongyeon did not like what she came home to that day.

She had just arrived back from school and almost immediately went up to her room to take off this stupid uniform. She despised it so whenever she was back in the house she would be rid of the skirt, especially since now that Nayeon was home for a while she would definitely make fun of the outfit. She and Nayeon had something of a playful rivalry, otherwise known as an undying hatred for one another when their Appas weren’t looking. For this reason, when Jeongyeon heard Nayeon’s voice coming from her and Jihyo’s shared room. There was an eye-roll as the second oldest began storming towards the door to chuck out her elder sister. Only when she began overhearing parts of the conversation she paused.

“So have you seen him since the bus?”

“A few times, he waits for someone outside the school though,” Jihyo sounded sad, “So he’s obviously got a girlfriend.”

“It could be a sibling or relative?”

“Maybe…but I shouldn’t get my hopes up. He just makes my brain feel like it’s melting.”

“Hey! You’re a freaking goddess, any guy would be lucky to have you!” Nayeon told her firmly before squealing, “Aww baby Jihyo has her first crush!”

Crush…

Did….did Nayeon just say Jihyo had a crush?

Nope. No way. Not happening. Sorry mate, sling your hook and kindly back the fuck up!

To stop herself from barging in and inevitably getting yelled at she decided to just go down to the laundry room and find some trousers. Turning to descend down the stairs again, she was silently seething. What the hell was this guy’s game? Jihyo never got crushes, she was above that. She understood Jeongyeon’s belief that her biological sibling was too good for any hack that tried to turn her head. Jeongyeon was self aware, she knew that out of all her siblings she was the most protective. She got into fights defending Momo’s honour when guys watched her dance and said some inappropriate things, she had made guys retract the rumours about Sana that they tried spreading, she had stalked Mina’s stalker and ensured he never bothered her again. Appa Heechul was much the same way, Jeongyeon had always agreed that sometimes they forgot that they had suffered a troubled childhood and so sometimes they needed extra protection.

Like how Sana needed someone to hold her during thunderstorms or how sometimes Jeongyeon had to make Jihyo yell at her in order to get her to let out some of her bottled aggression. She was their protector and it was a role Jeongyeon took very seriously, to an extent they were still broken girls and required extra care which she did in her own way. As she searched the clean laundry pile for a pair of jeans she lamented on the horrific idea that was Jihyo getting a boyfriend. Jihyo would forever be her little sister, ever since they entered the foster care system Jeongyeon knew she had to look out for Jihyo. She defended her from bullies, from being separated and at one time from their step-father. Jihyo didn’t know that story, the day Jeongyeon realised how important family was and that if she couldn’t protect her Umma she could protect Jihyo.

It was also the event their daycare finally called social services about.

__J_eongyeon hated their step-father with a passion, she always had. She had seen through his smiles and gifts for what they truly were, bribes to distract from his angry eyes. They always held fire within them that never faded even when he was smiling, eyes are the windows to the soul and his soul was destined for hell. The arguments during the night were the worst, being forced to listen to her beautiful mother apologise to that beast for something she hadn’t done or that didn’t warrant an apology. It was worse when Jihyo began waking up and hearing them, she would crawl into Jeongyeon’s bed and weep into her pyjama shirt._

_The daytime wasn’t much better, Jeongyeon had watched that beast slap their mother around when the sun was up also. Jeongyeon was only a kid at the time, the only revenge she could get were through silly pranks and acting out. But even she would stop when she saw the signs that her mother was going to pay for being “unable to control her brat”. His fists would clench, his breath would become ragged and his face would get redder and redder until he burst and sent a fist at their mother. It hurt Jeongyeon to watch it but there wasn’t a lot she could do, he was so much bigger than her._

_Then one day, her mother wasn’t home. _

_Jeongyeon couldn’t remember what exactly it was but Jihyo had been playing after school and had left her toy out. The idiot beast wasn’t looking where he was going and inevitably tripped over it with a shout. Jeongyeon and Jihyo both froze at the cry, feeling dread in the air as tension rose. The duo had been sat, silently colouring, at the dinner table. He stormed in and glared at them, enraged. His eyes snapped on to Jihyo’s and the small girl shrunk under his intense gaze, with a snarl he pulled her from the table prompting Jeongyeon to stand as well. His fists were clenched, his breathing ragged, his face the maximum shade of red. Their mother wasn’t there, who was he going to aim at this time? Jeongyeon knew who was in the line of fire and she was not going to let that happen._

_“WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT LEAVING YOUR TOYS OUT? HUH?”_

_“I’m s-s-sorry!” Jihyo cried, sniffling as the scary man looked down on her,_

_“SORRY!? IF YOU WERE SORRY YOU WOULDN’T DO IT!”_

_Jeongyeon looked at her little sister, how scared she was…she knew what she had to do._

_“It wasn’t Jihyo.”_

_“What!?” He growled looking at her,_

_“I left that toy in the hall. It’s my fault.” Jeongyeon lied,_

_He glared at her, throwing Jihyo to the ground. The little girl cradled her now bruised arm as Jeongyeon stared up at the beast before her. She stood her ground as he began screaming and yelling at her, eyes closing when his arm pulled back. The impact of the fist hitting her eye caused her to fall to the floor, the pain was immediate and she started sobbing. Jihyo crawled over to her and hugged her as the step-monster stormed off to go get a drink away from the “stupid babies”. They lay on the floor until their mother came home, immediately both were taken upstairs to have their bruises looked at. Jeongyeon frowned at the state of her mother, beaten down and pale._

_“Oh Jeong…why did you have to make him mad?”_

_That felt like she had been punched in the chest, later she would realise it was the pain related to being told her being abused by that beast was her fault._

_“I-I’m sorry, Umma.”_

_“It’s alright, just be careful. Happy Appa, happy household - right?”_

_Jeongyeon had a nasty black eye which would later be the last straw for the day care, however that would come the following day. That night once everything had calmed down Jeongyeon lay in bed, eye too sore to sleep as she stared at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. There was arguing downstairs but at this point that was normal, just as normal as her bed dipping so that Jihyo could cuddle up to her._

_“Why did you lie?” She asked,_

_“I’m your big sister,” Jeongyeon told her, “If Umma wont protect you, I will.”_

_Jihyo was quiet a moment._

_Then she snuggled further into Jeongyeon, “You’re the best big sister ever.”_

_ _

Sure she had more sisters now but the sentiment was the same, if nobody else would help them Jeongyeon would. This guy Jihyo liked better be a goddamn saint because if he was anything but there would be flying hands. In saying that even if he were Jesus back from the dead he still wouldn’t be good enough. Not for her baby sister. Having found and changed into some jeans she walked back out to the living room, planning to watch television until the others descended from wherever they had disappeared to. She didn’t like it when the house was quiet, it felt wrong. She was somewhat glad when she heard a rumbling outside the house, assuming it would be Sana riding on the back of her latest love’s motorbike (Sana had made it very clear that protective Jeongyeon wasn’t acceptable in relation to her and so Jeongyeon had learned to get used to her ways). Standing up she approached the love seat by the window and knelt on it, looking down the driveway.

Her rage was back.

It wasn’t Sana, it was Tzuyu. Tzuyu was getting off of Elkie Chongs motorbike, even after Jeongyeon had told her that Chong was dangerous. Jeongyeon didn’t know what was up with Tzuyu lately, she was colder than usual and more distant. She refused to speak unless spoken to and was spending more and more time out the house, she claimed archery practise but Jeongyeon’s friend Bora was the captain of the team and she wasn’t that busy. Plus all the sisters had noticed Hyewon was sitting with a new group at lunch while Tzuyu was usually sat with Elkie’s group, they’d heard her on the phone to her best friend the other night so they weren’t fighting. It must have been Elkie causing her to pull away, she knew that girl was trouble and now it appeared she was tainting her youngest sister. Nu-uh, not gonna fly. If she couldn’t approach Jihyo about her stupid man crush she could definitely stop Tzuyu seeing this bitch.

When the door opened Tzuyu jumped at Jeongyeon standing behind it, she’d been really jumpy lately.

“Please tell me you didn’t just get a ride home from Elkie.” Jeongyeon growled,

Tzuyu raised an eyebrow, “So what if I did?”

Tzuyu walked past her, taking her shoes off.

“She’s trouble!” Jeongyeon snapped, “I can’t keep warning you--”

“Then stop!” Tzuyu snapped back, “Who I hang out with is none of your business!”

Jeongyeon studied her, Tzuyu looked off. Like she hadn’t been sleeping properly, plus she was never usually this angry or snappy. Normally Tzuyu was quiet and obedient, sure she could be unintentionally blunt but she would never argue back like that. Plus her eyes were sad, this meant to Jeongyeon that her soul was sad too.

“What’s wrong with you lately?” Jeongyeon asked,

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you being such a brat?” Jeongyeon demanded, “I’m just looking out for you.”

“I don’t need you to!” Tzuyu told her angrily, “I didn’t ask you to, I can look after myself.”

Tzuyu began storming up the stairs leaving Jeongyeon to yell after her, “Tzuyu! We are not done talking about this!”

“Yes we are!” Was the response from upstairs,

Nayeon’s head popped over the landing bannister.

“What the hell was that about?” She asked,

Jeongyeon sighed, “Tzuyu’s just being fifteen, she’s such a brat.”

“Puberty, whatcha gonna do?” Nayeon dismissed, “We’re watching a film, wanna join?”

“Please!”

Jeongyeon then tried to push thoughts of Jihyo’s crush and Tzuyu’s new friend far from her mind. If they thought they could handle it then whatever, let them try, but when they couldn’t hack it Jeongyeon would be right there to help them pick up the pieces and rebuild.

Because Jihyo had been right: she was the best big sister ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave prompts


	15. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls host the worst party ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from AFF user SanaCheeseKimbap_

** **The Party** **

** **

Jeongyeon was buzzing.

Appa Heechul had been invited to a work retreat in Jeju and had invited Appa Leeteuk along. After the last time the girls had been to the office they were not welcome on the trip and Aunt Sunmi was too busy to babysit, meaning the girls were home alone all weekend. For some this would mean horror movies and junk food but for Jeongyeon there was a different goal in mind. She was a senior now, meaning this was her final year of high school before she left for college and there was still one thing she had to do before she graduated. Throw a kick ass senior party. She had been to one every year, that one end of year party that people remembered for the rest of their lives. One moment of glory where people hooked up, got drunk and partied into the night.

It took some convincing but eventually her sisters came round, each inviting their friend groups to join in the celebration. The party had only been raging half and hour and the house was packed, Nayeon had gotten their base alcohol as well as telling all her friends to bring some along. As Jeongyeon sipped from her red solo cup, she looked over her good work. All upstairs bedrooms were locked up tight to stop anyone getting freaky in beds that did not belong to them. The living room furniture had been pushed to the sides of the room and all valuables were locked in their Appas’ room. The dining room was hosting a pretty intense beer pong tournament, the living room now a huge dance floor, all alcohol was in the kitchen. It was in every sense the stereotypical high school party.

Momo was at the centre of the dance floor, she and Nayeon had gotten buzzed before the party started so they were already a little drunk. Near her Jeongyeon could see Jennie and her latest boy-toy, some dude named Daniel. Jennie was grinding on him and to be honest he looked a little uncomfortable. Jeongyeon chuckled to herself, Jennie made EVERYONE uncomfortable. Sana and the rest of their little clique were playing beer pong with some local guys, the high pitched laugh Sana had standing out under the pumping bass. Jihyo was sat on the sofas with her friends, laughing and joking and Jeongyeon had seen Chaeyoung and Dahyun head out into the garden with a bottle of vodka when the party started. Mina and Nayeon were in the kitchen talking to some of Nayeon’s friends from college including Yoona (her best friend since the beginning of high school). Yes, everything was going swimmingly.

Until…

“Woah, woah, woah!” Jeongyeon shouted over the music when Tzuyu was halfway down the stairs,

“What?” The youngest asked confused,

“No way, back upstairs.” Jeongyeon ordered,

“You’re kidding, right?” Tzuyu arms folded, not amused,

It was then Nayeon and Mina approached, drinks in hand, “What’s going on?” Nayeon asked, “Tzuyu you shouldn’t be down here.”

“Chaeyoung and Dahyun get to be here!” Tzuyu snapped,

“Yeah but they’re a little older, Tzu.” Mina tried to explain, “It’s not their first party.”

“Wouldn’t it be better that my first party was one my sisters were all at?”

Pause.

“She has a point…” Mina hummed,

“No she doesn’t.” Nayeon clicked her tongue, “Upstairs kid.”

Tzuyu huffed and stormed up to her room.

“AND LOCK YOUR DOOR!” Jeongyeon called after her,

“Right…now that the angsty teen has been imprisoned, come on!” Nayeon began pulled Jeongyeon down the steps,

“Where am I going?”

“Basement for spin the bottle,” Mina told her, “If I’m being dragged down there so are you.”

As they passed Jihyo’s group they were incorporated into the spin the bottle crowd. Jihyo usually avoided parties, they were loud and complete wastes of time. However, she was human and the idea of never doing something didn’t sit right with her so occasionally she’d suck up her distaste for them and attend. Usually if it was around a school election she’d go to get people in her good books before voting. However, when she got to the circle she decided she’d rather go hang out upstairs with Tzuyu. It hadn’t taken long for Jihyo to find out that the guy who she had been obsessed with the last few weeks was dating it girl Jennie. Him dating someone stung a bit but it meant she could focus on forgetting he existed, which was hard when they were cuddled up together right in front of her.

“Right!” Nayeon chirped placing a bottle in the centre of the group, “Spin then kiss. It’s simple, unless your like related cause that’s weird.”

Jihyo sat between Yeri and Sana, whom had just finished beer pong, praying for an excuse to just leave. Nayeon span first which led to her straight up making out with some guy from her college, her sisters looked away as there was nothing less sexy than Nayeon getting her mack on. Sana span next, the bottle pointing at Rose. Both girls giggled, pretty drunk from the beer pong, and shared a sloppy kiss that made Mina visibly gag.

“Prude.” Was the comment coughed under Jennies breath but it went unnoticed by all but Mina,

Yeri kiss a guy called Jimin from the boys school and Jeongyeon had to kiss Yoona which neither liked very much. When it was Jihyo’s turn she only had one purpose, ANYBODY but Daniel. Jihyo span the bottle and held her breath, watching as it span round the circle once or twice, maybe the Gods had finally decided to cut her a break? Then it stopped.

The world lies, life’s unfair and God doesn’t exist.

“Oooh Jennie has to hand over her pretty boy!” Lisa teased,

Jihyo’s heart was in her stomach, she couldn’t even look up once she realised Daniel was smiling gently at her in a way that was just his. This was not part of her plan for getting over him, especially since he was sat next to his girlfriend who was, and it cannot be stretched enough, THE BIGGEST BITCH IN SCHOOL! Everyone ooed and Jihyo’s panic went unnoticed as she tried to stop herself blushing, it was humiliating - usually she was in control, how could some guy affect her so much? Jeongyeon jokingly proclaimed she couldn’t look and bolted away from the scene, using this as an excuse to get out of the game.

Jennie smirked, “It’s fine.”

“Really?” Sana asked,

“Call it charity,” Jennie continued, eyes glinting viciously, “Girls of her…body type don’t get kissed often. I can donate my baby’s lips for a moment. Like a Make a Wish”

The comment HURT.

“Woah…” Rose whispered,

“What the hell, Jen?” Daniel scoffed,

“That wasn’t very nice.” Mina said as loud as she dared,

Jennie’s gaze switched to her, “What was that? Resident mime have something to say?”

With Mina now the target Jihyo felt her embarrassment fade and be replaced by anger, “Sana you need to get this bitch a muzzle.”

“Come on guysss,” She smiled, Mina wondered how much she’d drank, “It’s just the alcomohol makin’ us snippy. Let’s just play nice!”

Jihyo rolled her eyes and stood up, cheeks burning from the humiliation and tears unshed in her eyes. She mentioned wanting another drink and walked out, Mina quickly following not wanting to be alone with Sana’s friends. Sana was too drunk to really think straight, she was a lightweight anyway and beer pong had wrecked her. Had she been coherent she’d have stood up for her sisters, but she wasn’t and so the comments just washed over her. She watched Jennie and Daniel argue a moment as the game broke down, culminating in him storming off to find his friends. Lisa whispered something to Jennie and they both grinned.

Lisa pulled a baggie out her pocket, “Look what I have!”

Pills. Sana didn’t do pills.

“Nice!” Rose beamed, “You down Sana?”

“I d’know guys I’m drunk pretty already.” Sana slurred,

Jennie’s eyebrow raised, “Wow Sana…didn’t realise you were that lame.”

“Lame?”

“Yeah like, no offence but if your gonna kill my buzz you can hang out alone for a while.”

“No….”

“No?”

“No, I don’t wan be alone…”

“We’re not gonna hang with a killjoy Sana.” Lisa told her,

“You sure they’re shafe?”

“Of course!” Lisa smiled, “We do them all the time.”

“One wouldn’t hurt…”

“That’s our party girl!” Jennie cheered,

Meanwhile, out in the back yard Chaeyoung and Dahyun were up in the tree-house. They had passed the bottle of vodka back and fourth, having depleted most of the bottle the duo were giggly. Dahyun wasn’t a big drinker, she didn’t like the taste or the way it burned her throat. However, she liked this - being too tipsy to really care about anything but having fun. She and Chaeyoung were in their own little bubble, sat up in the Kim family tree house. Chaeyoung was stood by the window, commenting on what she could see, Dahyun was sat on one of the bean bags bottle in her hand and laughing along with Chaeyoung’s narration.

“Tzu’s got her bedroom light on.” Chaeyoung said, “Shame Jeongyeon wouldn’t let her join the party.”

“Tzuyu is baby…”

Chaeyoung turned to send her a teasing look, “Tzuyu is baby?”

“Yeah.”

Chaeyoung laughed at the phrasing, Dahyun’s heart sped up. Chaeyoung walked over and collapsed on the the beanbag next to the blushing drunkard.

“You’re druuunk!” She teased,

“Shut up!” Dahyun whined, “So are you.”

She shoved the younger girl playfully, Chaeyoung was giggling, “You’re a lightweight though.”

“Shh!”

Chaeyoung’s laughter died, “I’m glad you moved in with us.”

“You’re glad I was kicked out?” Dahyun joked,

“You know what I mean.” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, “I’m happy you’re here.”

“I’m not going anywhere Chae.”

“Me neither.” Chaeyoung confirmed, mind drifting quickly to her conversation with Mina,

It was then Dahyun noticed how close they were. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the strange tension that settled between them but something sent Dahyun a burst of confidence and she closed the gap between them. Kissing Chaeyoung was like she imagined it, only there was a strong taste of vodka and strawberries. Chaeyoung hummed and kissed back almost instantly, she was pretty drunk so Dahyun knew she should enjoy it while it lasted. After a moment of losing herself in Chaeyoung, they pulled apart the vodka causing them to start laughing almost immediately. The mood changed quickly and they were back to talking and joking around, unaware of the devastated figure slowly making her way back down the tree - not wanting them to see her.

Mina had not been having fun, between Jennie being….well Jennie and seeing Chaeyoung and Dahyun swap spit this party on her end had been a disaster. She all but ran back into the house, tears in her eyes. Sure, she knew she never stood a chance (Chaeyoung was by all accounts her sister for Christ sake) but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Like someone was ripping her heart out. Mina searched the dance floor for Sana, needing her twins comfort right now. Part of her was concerned that she couldn’t see her downstairs and so she went to check the rooms on the second floor. Thankfully the bedrooms were still locked, but Mina did see Nayeon pulling some poor man into her room and chose to ignore that horrific mental image. Planning on giving up and finding Momo instead, Mina eventually turned to head back down to the dance floor…only for the bathroom door to open and Sana appeared with her friends.

“Minariiiiiiiii~” She sang falling into Mina’s arms,

“Sana? How much did you drink?”

“Only a little at the beginning,” Sana looked up at her, or more like around her, “Your colour is soooo pretty!”

“Colours what?” Mina then studied her sister, “S-Sana why are your pupils so big?”

“Mint green…”

Mina was completely lost, “Huh?”

“You’re aura silly!” Sana cackled and swayed a little, “Minty, minty! Minty Mina has a cooool aura, mine’s cool too - I like purple!”

“Are you okay?”

Sana nodded quickly before wincing, “Oof dizzy….everything wooshy. Woah! Look how pretty the air is….sparkly!”

“What has she taken?” Mina snapped, eyes meeting Jennie’s,

“Relax,” Jennie smirked, unsteady herself, “She’s just having a little fun!”

Mina was quiet, Sana was a party girl sure but she was usually so anti-drugs that it was hard to believe she’d give in to the peer pressure. The song changed downstairs and Sana was dragged off by Rose and Lisa to go dance to it, Jennie followed shoulder checking Mina as she went. Concerned for her twin Mina went into the bathroom to try and find what Sana had taken, only there was only a small baggy to tell of their illegal activity. Panicking she ran downstairs looking for Momo. Momo was sat alone in the corner of the room questioning her life choices, she had been having fun dancing and drinking until someone from her maths class asked if she was ready for the test tomorrow. It kind of dampened her mood.

She’d rather keep dancing but the mood was gone, what was the point of wasting her time studying when she was going to fail anyway? Momo was the dumb one in the family, she had accepted that. Her lonely pity party thankfully halted when Mina ran up to her looking so shaken that Momo immediately forgot why she had been so down. Momo may not be the most mature but when it came to her little sisters she could switch on unnie-mode like a light switch.

“Mina? What’s wrong?” She called over the music,

“Sana’s taken something,” Mina told her, “She’s being weird. I’m scared she’s going to get hurt.”

“Shit…” Momo stood, “You go find Jihyo and stay with her, don’t worry I’ll find Sana and get her to bed.”

Mina nodded and went to find Jihyo, leaving Momo to go searching for her stupid little sister. She was worried and from that worry came fury that Sana would be this reckless, especially when their little sisters were at the same party. What if she had offered something to Mina? What if she had a bad reaction and OD’d. Momo sped up her search, worried that Sana was going to do something dangerous. She ran into Jeongyeon by the stairs, the elder girl immediately noting the panic in her sisters expression. After a quick run down of the situation Jeongyeon downed her drink and said she’d check upstairs.

Taking two steps at a time she went upstairs and combed the second floor, finding Nayeon in very intimate position which she would bleach from her eyes later. Each room was locked and in a last ditch effort she decided to ask if Tzuyu had seen the girl anywhere. Jeongyeon, who had locked all the doors earlier, still had the master key for all the rooms (it was their Appas’) and so just unlocked Tzuyu’s door from the outside, pushing it open. Then she saw a sight which caused her to lose her goddamn mind.

Tzuyu didn’t know how long after she was sent to her room that a tapping came to her window, when she turned to look she promptly shit herself at the face that had appeared there. She lived on the second story…there should be no faces. However, it was Elkie - she had heard about the party and hadn’t been invited. Knowing Tzuyu could potentially be being hit on….she means be in a dangerous situation. Following the one time she’d been allowed into Tzuyu’s house she remembered where the bedroom was, with the light being on she assumed Tzuyu had been locked in her room by Jeongyeon - for once she agreed with the over protective Kim sister. She had climbed up the massive oak tree and swung hazardously on the branch as she knocked on the window.

“What’re you doing here?” Tzuyu asked, pulling her inside,

“Eh I was bored and didn’t see you downstairs.” Elkie half lied, “Y’know Chaeyoung and Dahyun are getting vodka drunk in your treehouse, right?”

“That would not surprise me.” Tzuyu shrugged,

They sat on the floor leaning against Tzuyu’s bed talking about whatever they thought of, over time the conversation died down into a comfortable silence. Elkie took this chance to ask the question she really wanted to, despite hanging out more often now they weren’t usually alone like this often so Elkie could never ask. Her group all spoke Chinese and so they couldn’t even do it covertly.

“So what happened when you told your Appas?”

Tzuyu looked away from her.

“Tzuyu?” Elkie’s brow furrowed, “Y-You told them, right?”

“I’m waiting for the right time.”

“Tzuyu!”

“I tried!” Tzuyu explained, “But then Nayeon cut me off and they all looked so happy, I didn’t want to ruin that for them.”

“They need to know.”

Tzuyu sighed, “They wouldn’t listen to me, nobody ever does.”

Elkie studied her, reaching out to grab her hand, “I’m listening.”

Tzuyu looked at her, “What if you don’t like what you hear?”

“It’s not about me, it’s about you.” Elkie told her sincerely, “Talk to me.”

Tzuyu sighed, she brought her knees up to her face and rested her head on top of them, hand still clutched in Elkie’s, “When I was a kid my Mama was an addict, she used to sell her body to buy heroine.”

“Holy shit, Tzu….I’m so sorry.”

Tzuyu chuckled darkly, “I thought it was normal, we were poor and lived in a poor area - everyone was on something and would do what it took to get it. One day Mama’s…pimp I guess? Mr Z brought two men to the house, I was only like eight or nine. One was for Mama and one was for me…”

“Tzu…”

“She told me I was helping pay for her medicine, that she needed it. That it was okay and I believed her.” Tears pricked in Tzuyu’s eyes, “I trusted her, she was my Mama.”

Elkie stroked the back of her hand with her thumb, not knowing what else to do. She hadn’t expected this.

“I don’t even know if my Appas know,” Tzuyu told her, regaining control, “I’ve never really talked about it before. I did stuff that I wasn’t proud of, it still makes me feel dirty.”

“You’re not dirty,” Elkie was appalled, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know.”

Elkie swallowed, “Is that why you’re so eager to forget this Mr Tuan thing, because you’ve never talked about it before?”

“I guess, I keep hearing my Mama reminding me that it’s our little secret. I let those men do things to me and force me to do things for them purely because I thought she needed the medicine to live. I was so stupid.”

“Those men, every single one of them, is sick.” Elkie growled, “You know that right? It wasn’t your fault.”

“Now I do, at the time everyone acted like I was doing something good.”

“You are good,” Elkie whispered, “And pure and kind and beautiful. Nobody can ever take away your integrity and your kindness, I wont let them.”

“Why do you care so much?” Tzuyu asked, doe eyes shimmering with unshed tears,

“Because someone has to? Because you deserve recognition for what you’ve overcome?” Elkie tucked a loose strand behind Tzuyu’s ear, “Because I’m kind of obsessed with you and I don’t know why.”

When Tzuyu’s eyes flicked nervously down to her lips Elkie took it as a green light and closed the gap, it was longer than their first kiss. Careful and slow, with Elkie controlling a gentle pace allowing Tzuyu to back out if she wished. Only she didn’t, she kissed back trying to match Elkie’s pace despite her own inexperience. It was then the door opened and neither girl had time to react before Jeongyeon had pulled Elkie away.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?”

“Jeongyeon, calm down.” Tzuyu snapped,

“Calm down!? CALM DOWN!? I CATCH YOU FRENCHING MY ENEMY AND I NEED TO CALM DOWN!?”

“I thought Nayeon was your enemy?”

“Nah,” Elkie intervened, “They have a love/hate thing, we just hate each other.”

“I…you….Get out!”

Elkie rolled her eyes but thought it best not to argue…she was in Jeongyeon’s house and she didn’t know if there were any weapons hidden. She hugged Tzuyu goodbye, whispering in Chinese that they’d talk more later. When she was gone Tzuyu glared at her sister.

“So my friend has to go but yours can trash the house?”

“Tzuyu, you can do so much better!” Jeongyeon pleaded, “Why are you so attached to this bitch?”

“You don’t get to dictate who I’m friends with, I can’t keep having this argument with you!”

“I’m sorry that I’m worried about you!” Was the sarcastic reply, “I’m your sister---”

“NO YOU’RE NOT!” Tzuyu shouted, Jeongyeon froze, “My family, my real family, are fucked up on drugs in Taiwan. You are not my sister, you’re some girl that I have been forced to live with. Stop pretending you care about me, just back off and let me live my damn life.”

“Tzuyu…”

“Get out.”

“Hold on a seco--”

“GET OUT!”

Jeongyeon started leaving, somewhat shocked. Tzuyu had never been like this before. Sure, they’d all had phases where they resented that they didn’t live with their real families but Jeongyeon didn’t know anything about Tzuyu’s family - the youngest never talked about them. It hurt, the things she said had hurt but Jeongyeon understood that they had come from anger. Whatever was going on with Tzuyu was something to do with Elkie she was sure of it. If Tzuyu wanted to fuck up she could, but despite what she had screamed at Jeongyeon she was still her sister. Distracted by naked Sana dancing down the hall, Jeongyeon decided to leave Tzuyu be for tonight and reign in the wild child.

Leaving Tzuyu to listen to the party rage downstairs as she stewed in her guilt.

Worst. Party. Ever.


	16. Origins: Nayeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon reflects on what 'family' means

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - RIP Sulli, please remember how important it is to keep the discussion of mental health active. Talk about it, let your friends talk to you about it. This world is shitty enough, talk more and don’t make it shittier.
> 
> It didn’t feel right to post yesterday.

** **Origins: Nayeon** **

** **

Their Appas never found out about the party.

But the damage was already done, nearly all the girls were avoiding certain sisters. Jeongyeon and Tzuyu had been acting frosty with each other, Mina hadn’t spoke to Chaeyoung or Dahyun in days and Momo was furious with Sana. Nayeon herself had survived the party unscathed, partly due to getting drunk early on and hooking up with some guy the rest of the night that she couldn’t remember the name of. Jeongyeon had apparently walking in on them and couldn’t look Nayeon in the eye which, knowing how frisky Nayeon got when drunk, was probably for good reason. Their parents couldn’t understand the sudden cold atmosphere in the usually warm house, they put it down to a petty fight when they were away and assumed it’d all be sorted in a week. And it would, nobody knew that yet but within the next week everything would be all sorted and out in the open.

Nayeon was at that particular moment, laying in her room staring at the ceiling. She would do this whenever she worried about something, shutting off everyone to lay back and organise her thoughts. She was an extrovert and being around people, while she loved it, taxes everyone after a while so a moment alone did her a lot of justice before she craved human interaction again. Today her worry was on her sisters, she was scared that these fights could rip apart the perfect family life they had. It was no secret as to why Momo was uncharacteristically furious, Sana had given into peer pressure and taken something that she didn’t know the name of. The worst part was that she let Mina, who looked up to her, see her in that state. What if Chaeyoung or God forbid Tzuyu had seen her? Those two could be so impressionable and Sana could very easily have placed the idea in their heads. If their unnie did such things maybe they should try it too?

Mina had moved to Momo’s bed for the time being, however didn’t seem to be too angry with Sana. Instead she appeared to have more issue with Chaeyoung and Dahyun, not that either girl truly noticed. Mina was usually quiet and reclusive but everyone else had noticed that rather than sit with Chaeyoung in her phone she’d be sat in Tzuyu’s room or talking to Momo. Nayeon was saddened mostly by this, the duo were especially close (Chaeyoung and Mina) so to see Mina begin to pull away without the shorter girls noticing or caring was heartbreaking to witness. Mina was never one to be open about her anger, she would rather keep it hidden and act fine. Nayeon saw through it though, Chaeyoung and Dahyun had done something that had hurt the resident black swan and the worst part appeared to be that they hadn’t even realised. For them it was business as usual and Nayeon was fighting the urge to smash their heads together.

As for Tzuyu and Jeongyeon? God only knew. Tzuyu had been off for a while now and the family were beginning to become fed up with it. There was teen angst and then there was Tzuyu - sneaking out late, hanging around with people her family didn’t like, skipping her classes mainly science. At some point Nayeon planned to smack the girl upside the head and knock some sense into her. It was getting ridiculous! Originally Nayeon had suspected that Tzuyu was doing what they all had at one point, acted out through resentment for missing parents but sh was going way overboard. Nayeon had that panic before and she was nowhere near this bad!

Though she can admit she didn’t do the right thing about it.

_Nayeon took a deep breath in the passenger seat of Yoona’s car._

_This was not a good idea, she shouldn’t have even gotten this far. When she left this morning she had been so confident and now all of it had fled in the final moments. The duo were parked by a large gate, behind which was a long winding driveway leading to the most beautiful house Nayeon had ever seen. It was huge with a large door and a long staircase leading to it. It was surrounded by land, the greenest land Nayeon had ever seen with well maintained bushes and trees. It was the life future theatre major Nayeon dreamed of having. A life she could have had if decisions were made differently years ago._

_Don’t get Nayeon wrong, she loved her life with Heechul and Leeteuk, but there was a always a time that someone would want to know where they came from. Who they were deep inside. When she turned eighteen her parents gifted her the file from her adoption and allowed her to read it. That was the first time she ever found out her mothers name, she had been in care since birth and had always wanted to know why she had been given up. Why would her mother give her up before even knowing her? What had been so wrong with her as a baby that someone would hate her that much? She had so many questions she needed and only one person could answer them._

_Which is how she ended up parked in Yoona’s car outside the house in which her biological mother lived._

_Nayeon usually prided herself of her confidence, bordering on narcissism, but right now her usual ego and bravado had left her as she sat shaking in the seat. Yoona couldn’t offer any help, she didn’t know how Nayeon felt - she couldn’t know. That made it harder, but she still offered to drive Nayeon to and from so that she wouldn’t be doing it all alone. Plus it could be dangerous, all Nayeon knew was that her mother had been rather young when she had her. The woman could be anyone and having support waiting outside would help her in the long run._

_“You don’t have to do this today,” Yoona said after a while, “I’ll drive you whenever you need me to.”_

_Nayeon swallowed and shook her head, “No it has to be today. I wont get the confidence again.”_

_“You’re Kim Nayeon…confidence is in your every action,” Yoona told her, “Now get out this car and go and get your answers.”_

_Yoona was right, she was Kim FREAKING Nayeon. She publicly yelled at a dance teacher for saying Momo’s choreography was subpar, she took the stage with her amateur theatre group every few months without batting an eyelid. She could do this. She squeezed Yoona’s hand for some last minute support and then moved out the car door. She approached the gate and found a keypad next to it with an intercom button and a small camera. Taking a deep breath she channeled all the confidence she could find and raised a shaky hand to press the buzzer._

_There was a moment of silence and Nayeon considered pretending they hadn’t been home, retreating to the car again with an empty promise of trying again._

_“Hello?”_

_Dammit…_

_Nayeon froze, panic setting in - she hadn’t planned this far._

_“Hello? I can see you!”_

_“H-Hi I’m looking for Kwon Boa?”_

_“Speaking?”_

_Nayeon froze again wondering what to say next._

_“Are you alright, dear?” She sounded kind, that’d make it easier,_

_Nayeon swallowed, “M-My name is Nayeon…”_

_“N-Nayeon…”_

_“You’re my….I’m your daughter.”_

_Silence._

_“I’m not here to ask you for money or anything,” Nayeon rambled, “I just was wondering if I could meet you and maybe ask a few questions---”_

_“Get off my property.”_

_It was like her heart shattered in her chest, each scar embedding itself to cause more and more pain._

_“P-Please, I deserve answers!”_

_“I don’t have a daughter, please leave.”_

_Nayeon felt tears in her eyes, the lump in her throat being held back by sheer determination._

_“Okay,” Nayeon said, tears spilling out of her eyes, “I’ll go, but if you ever want to contact me just go to the home where YOU abandoned me and you ask for their number. I’ve tried. Now it’s all on you.”_

_No reply, just the click of the receiver._

_It wasn’t until Nayeon was safely back in Yoona’s car that she burst into tears. She felt defeated and abandoned, like she had done many times before. Yoona listened to what happened and cuddled her until the tears and sobs stopped, then and only then did she drive them home. To Nayeon’s real home, where her real family were waiting for her._

Nayeon never really got over the rejection of her birth mother, she wasn’t allowed the closure. It had left a lasting effect, she couldn’t even date long term for fear they would either reject her upon asking or realise later on that they did not want her. It wasn’t in the way Sana did, the girl would sleep around but she was also a hopeless romantic who just bored easily, when someone one day would keep her attentions then she would settle. Nayeon never allowed herself to even know the names of her one night stands, kicking them out once morning came. It may have made her a slut or a whore but she was too scared to do anything but.

However, as Nayeon lay in her room staring at the ceiling she remembered the other side of that interaction. All it had taught her about what family was, families were the ones that cared for you no matter what. When she failed a test her Appas cared enough to help her with the subject she struggled with, when Jihyo liked that guy from the bus Nayeon gave her advice and cuddled her when his girlfriend was discovered, it was when she and Jeongyeon would fight tooth and nail over everything but the second shit got real they had each others backs. Family were those who stuck around, thick and thin.

She realised she didn’t need her birth mother. Her Appas would cuddle her when she cried, they taught her to ride a bike, they went to every single parent teacher conference, they bought her perfect birthday and Christmas presents every year, they loved her, they cared about her. Those two men were her parents and she loved them. Boa was irrelevant to her and if she didn’t care enough to get to know Nayeon, to find out what a brilliant woman she had grown to be WITHOUT HER then that was her loss. If she did want to contact Nayeon she would need a big apology to her and massive thank you to the two men that stepped up and did what she couldn’t.

All these girls were pushed together, the only thing in common being their shattered and fragmented childhoods. But they were sisters, they bonded and loved each other. Each one would go to the ends of the earth and that, THAT is what family is. Nayeon frowned as she remembered the fighting that was going on and finally got off of her bed. She needed to get them all friends again they were family after all.

Families always had their fights, but above all else they were sisters and Nayeon knew exactly how to get them all back together again.

Who knows you better than family after all?


	17. Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon brings back an old game to help rebond the group...via groupchat

** **A/N - This is a prompt from Starky. Turned into a text Au cause I love a good text AU** **

** **

** **Games** **

** **

_ ** **Nayeon has created a group.** ** _

_ ** ** _

_ ** **Nayeon has added Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana and five others.** ** _

_ ** ** _

_ ** **Nayeon has named the group ‘Appa Free Zone’.** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****Jihyo: ****Whatever this is it cannot be good._

_****Sana: ****Oooh new gc fun!!_

_****Jeongyeon: ****Nayeon? What is this?_

_****Nayeon:****Everyone has been at each others throats since the party and I think its time we get over….whatever it was that caused everyone to hate each other_

_****Momo: ****ha no way_

_****Mina: ****Yeah Nayeon I don’t think it’ll fix much…_

_****Chaeyoung: ****Why are me and Dahyun here? We were in the treehouse all night while you lot fucked your lives up…_

_****Dahyun: ****Yeah! For once we are innocent!_

_****Chaeyoung: ****INNOCENT I SAY!_

_****Dahyun: ****IT’S THE TRUTH!_

_****Chaeyoung:**** TRUTH!? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!_

_****Tzuyu: ****I regret opening my messages…_

_****Jihyo: ****Same here._

_****Sana: ****What’s life without a little regret?_

_****Momo: ****youd know_

_****Sana: ****What was that?_

_****Momo: ****nothing_

_****Sana: ****No if you have a problem with me tell me_

_****Mina: ****Please don’t start arguing again_

_****Nayeon: ****See this is what I mean! We need to stop the bickering and the best way to do that is…_

_****Jeongyeon: ****Is…?_

_****Nayeon: ****Would you like to play a game?_

_****Dahyun: ****Uh-uh no way Satan, not today sir…Nayeon hitting us with those Saw vibes hell no!_

_****Chaeyoung: ****Nayeon rides tricycles #confirmed_

_****Mina: ****What game?_

_****Nayeon: ****Ah Mina…the only sane one!_

_****Jihyo: ****I resent that._

_****Nayeon: ****I thought I’d bring back an old classic: Chicken!_

_****Jeongyeon: ****Yes, chicken!_

_****Jihyo: ****Not chicken…it ended so badly the last time!_

_****Dahyun: ****What’s chicken?_

_****Tzuyu: ****They used to play it when they were younger, someone is asked a question and if they chicken out of answering they lose and must do a penalty._

_****Jeongyeon: ****Tzuyu was always to young to play_

_****Sana: ****Baby Tzu…_

_****Tzuyu: ****Yeah well I’m not a baby any more._

_****Jeongyeon: ****No you’re not if you were I wouldn’t mind you acting so immature._

_****Nayeon: ****OKAY! Who’s first?_

_****Jeongyeon: ****I have one._

_****Nayeon: ****Okay, Jeong the floor is yours!!_

_****Jeongyeon: ****@Jihyo who’s the guy you were talking to Nayeon about in our room a while back?_

_****Jihyo: ****0_0 you heard that?_

_****Sana: ****I smell teaaaa~_

_****Jihyo: ****No tea! He was just some guy from the bus I saw once_

_****Tzuyu: ****Wait the guy that caught you when you tripped?_

_****Jihyo: ****…maybe_

_ ** **Chaeyoung has changed Jihyo’s nickname to LoveSickMess.** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****LoveSickMess: ****I hate you Chaeyoung. Look he has a girlfriend anyway and I was silly to get my hopes up._

_****Jeongyeon: ****Bullshit! He’d be lucky to have you!_

_****LoveSickMess: ****But his girlfriends a 10 and I’m….well definitely not…_

_****Sana: ****JIYHO! YOU ARE SO A TEN NEVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAOIN YUOUR BEAUTYUFUL AND I WONT HEAR YOUY SAYI AnYTHING BAD ABOUT YOURSELFS_

_****Dahyun: ****My eyes were not ready for the misspelling in all cap but the psychopath is correct. You is a 10._

_****Sana: ****WHOS MADE YOU FEEL LIKE THIS I WILL MURDER THEWN_

_ ** **Chaeyoung has changed Sana’s nickname to MommaBear** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****MommaBear: ****DAMN RIGHT IM A MOMMA BEAR GRRR MY GIRLS ARE THE MOST BEAU9TFUL_

_****LoveSickMess: ****Can we please move on?_

_****Nayeon: ****Fine, you can go next Ji_

_****LoveSickMess: ****@Tzuyu what’s been with you lately?_

_****Tzuyu: ****Me?_

_****LoveSickMess: ****Yeah you’ve been the pinnacle of a teenage angst lately_

_ ** **Tzuyu is typing…** ** _

_****Chaeyoung: ****Do you like a pinnacle-lada…_

_****Dahyun: ****And making love in the rain!_

_****Mina: ****CAN YOU BOTH STOP FOR FIVE MINUTES!?_

_****Nayeon: ****0_0_

_****Jeongyeon: ****…?_

_****Sana: ****and I op---_

_****Mina: ****I only meant to type that to let out aggression….not send it hehe woops._

_****Chaeyoung: ****Minari? Are you mad at me?_

_****Dahyun: ****Did we do something wrong?_

_****Mina: ****You know what? Sometimes Chaeyoung you can be so oblivious._

_****Chaeyoung: ****Me what did I do?_

_****Mina: ****I’m not gonna out what you did in this chat…_

_****Chaeyoung: ****PM me?_

_______

_ ** **KIM MINA/KIM CHAEYOUNG CHAT** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****Chaeyoung: ****So are you going to tell me?_

_****Mina: ****I saw you kiss Dahyun, when were you going to tell me you were together?_

_****Chaeyoung: ****What? At the party?_

_****Mina: ****Yeah._

_****Chaeyoung: ****Sorry Mina but that’s hilarious!_

_****Mina: ****Glad you think so._

_****Chaeyoung: ****Look I love Dahyun but not like that, we were drunk and bored so it just kind of happened._

_****Chaeyoung: ****You know I’d tell you if something serious had happened._

_****Mina: ****So you’re not dating Dahyun?_

_****Chaeyoung: ****Of course not! Why? Jealous?_

_****Mina: ****Of course not…just scared you’ll ditch me for Dahyun._

_****Chaeyoung: ****What on earth made you think that?_

_****Mina: ****I mean you have done it before, remember how close you and Tzuyu used to be?_

_****Chaeyoung: ****We’re still close!_

_****Mina: ****When did you guys last have a conversation?_

_****Chaeyoung: ****…she tells me things that matter._

_****Mina: ****I’m not attacking you, but you have to admit you hung out with Tzuyu a lot less once Dahyun moved in._

_****Chaeyoung: ****Yeah…maybe…_

_______

_ ** **APPA FREE ZONE CHAT** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****MommaBear: ****MY TURN!_

_****Jeongyeon: ****Enough caps lock…_

_****MommaBear: ****Sorry <3 Momo: why are you being such a bitch lately!?_

_****Momo: ****your joking right??_

_****MommaBear: ****Ever since the party you’ve been super on my case_

_****Momo: ****sana you did drugs ofc im pissed at you_

_****MommaBear: ****C’mon it’s not that dramatic_

_****LoveSickMess: ****It kinda was, you were not okay Sana it scared Mina quite a lot_

_****MommaBear: ****I scared Mina?_

_****Momo: ****she came to find me as soon as she saw you dude she was terrified_

_****Tzuyu: ****Sana did drugs?_

_****MommaBear: ****I didn’t mean to scare anyone it was just a bit of fun_

_****Tzuyu: ****Drugs aren’t fun Sana. Losing your mind and craving them ever waking moment isn’t fun._

_****Dahyun: ****Oh shit yeah…Tzuyu’s umma!_

_****MommaBear: ****Tzuyu…I didn’t even think I’m sorry. But pills aren’t heroine! It’s a diff situation_

_****Tzuyu: ****Not to me._

_ ** **Tzuyu is offline.** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****Nayeon: ****Sana I’ve watched people get super fucked on pills at college parties. You need to be careful._

_****MommaBear: ****Would it help to know I regret it? Jennie has been sending the videos of that night_

_****Momo: ****she has?_

_****MommaBear: ****She keeps making fun of me, they wont let me live it down._

_****LoveSickMess: ****So let’s draw a line. Sana made a mistake and wont make it again, right?_

_****MommaBear: ****Never again!_

_****LoveSickMess: ****We’ve all fucked up, she’s learned from it as we have for other things. Lets move on._

_****Momo: ****okay. but she needs to apologise to mina for scaring her._

_****MommaBear: ****I promise! I’ll do it now!_

_****Momo: ****okay, you know i only worry coz i care <3_

_****MommaBear: ****I know <3 <3_

_****Nayeon: ****Well done ladies some excellent work today! That’s all the drama right?_

_****Jeongyeon: *****hand raised emoji”_

_ ** ** _

_****LoveSickMess: ****Oh yeah you and Tzuyu have been super weird lately!_

_****Dahyun: ****Verrry awkward_

_****Jeongyeon: ****Remember that I locked her in her room the night of the party?_

_****Nayeon: ****Yeah?_

_****Jeongyeon: ****When I was looking for Sana I went in there and caught her frenching Chong_

_****Momo: ****no way_

_****Dahyun: ****Eww_

_****LoveSickMess: ****Not an image I wanted._

_****Nayeon: ****What is up with her lately?_

_****MommaBear: ****Probably just rebellion - common in teens, I mean look at me :P_

_****Jeongyeon: ****Idk it seems more than that….and I know Chong is involved somehow_

_ ** **_____** ** _

_ ** ** _

_ ** **1 new message from Rosé <3** ** _

_ ** ** _

_ ** **_____** ** _

_ ** ** _

_****Rosé <3: ****Sana! Did you hear? Mr Tuan got FIRED!_

_****Sana: ****No way really? Aw Tzuyu really liked him :(_

_****Rosé <3: ****No one knows why but I bet I can get it out of a student teacher on Monday_

_****Sana: ****Send me the goss?_

_****Rosé <3: ****Ofc! Trust me on Monday everythings gonna be out in the open and you’ll be the first to know!_


	18. Origins: Momo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo was never the smartest so what was the point trying?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A prompt from one of my favourite writers: Burnirotihaari - do yourselves a favour and read her stuff especially House of Change (my personal favourite).
> 
> Last of the origins chapters but I am happy to do more of these if and when people have questions about the past of one of the characters.

** **Origins: Momo** **

** **

“Miss Kim? Would you wait a moment?”

Momo groaned as Bora sniggered at her on the way out. Being asked to wait a moment usually meant two things: a moments wait was usually three or four moments and Momo was in trouble. As she waited behind she racked her brain trying to think of a reason for her to have been called back, the usual reasons could not be the case this time. Momo had been a little off lately, pulling away slightly from Mina and Sana whilst no longer finding humour in Jeongyeon’s pranks that she so used to enjoy. It had all been ignored so far, being put down to her fight with Sana but truthfully Momo had no real reason to feel the way she did. Only being seen with her sisters had become embarrassing and everything her Appas said had begun to cause annoyance to her. Only she never knew why and nobody else could tell her because they were all wrapped up in their own drama.

She had still yet to let her Appas know she no longer wished to go to college and instead wanted to work at her studio as a dance teacher. There was a lot going on and she found herself too grumpy and sulky to talk about personal issues. They wouldn’t understand anyway, parents never understood. When she was stood in front of her teachers desk she felt bubbles of rebellion bubble up, she didn’t want to listen to her when she could be outside with her friends. Why was she always the only one to stay behind?

“Momo I want to talk to you about the test we had last week.”

“What about it?” Was the clipped response,

“You failed…”

“I know, I always fail what else is new?”

Her sighed took a breath, clearly trying not to rise to Momo’s new found defiance, “You will have to retake it later this week.”

Momo rolled her eyes, “Why?”

“Because your grade has now been pulled down to an F for the semester. If you fail Momo, you wont have enough credits to graduate.”

Momo’s heart stopped.

“W-What?”

“If your grade doesn’t improve, you will be held back and be found unable to graduate with the rest of your class.”

Momo was seething, “Why would you do this to me!?”

“’m not doing it to you Momo,” Her teacher told her sternly, “If you applied yourself better---”

“What’s the point!?” Momo shouted, tears running down her face, “If I study I fail, if I don’t I fail harder. What’s the point of trying when I’m too dumb to do anything but fail!? It just doesn’t make sense, up here” She smacked her forehead, ”Nothing makes sense in here it all jumbles up and wont make sense. I’m dumb!”

“You’re not dumb Momo…”

“Yes,” Momo’s voice was lower now, having tired her vocal chords by shouting, “I am.”

__“_Well Miss Kim---”_

_“Hirai.” Momo corrected defiantly as she sat on the doctors table,_

_An awkward look was exchanged between the doctor and Heechul but the man just nodded sadly, urging the doctor to continue what she was saying. Momo and her sisters had now been in Korea a week and were placed in the care of Leeteuk and Heechul. Sana had fit in the household quite well, glad for all the new friends and was doing her best to incorporate Mina while Momo…she didn’t trust any of them yet. She would watch from afar as though waiting for something to go wrong that’d mean the trio would be sent back to Japan. Where those men could take them again. That entire kidnapping was a blur now, her head injury causing all sorts of information to fall from her head. She remembered how hard she had cried when Leeteuk tried to speak to her in English, having been told she was rather good at it, she couldn’t remember the words or sentences any more. Even some more complex Japanese terms had gone, it felt like there were these giant holes in her brain and information was leaking out._

_“Miss Hirai,” The doctor continued in Japanese, they had been sure to find a bilingual pediatrician, “Your head appears to be healing nicely, if you keep being careful you’ll be able to go back to playing sports and other things again.”_

_“I-I-I can dance again?”_

_The doctor smiled, “In time, your memory should begin to come back soon as well.”_

_“I’ll be smart again!?” Momo’s little eyes shone,_

_“You seem smart enough already.” The doctor said, “Now I need to have a word with your fath---Mr Kim.”_

_She handed Momo a lollipop and the girl happily sucked on it as the doctor began a Korean discussion. Now Momo had been in Korea a few months and had picked up the language quite quickly thanks to the other girls in the house. However, she would never understand the true meaning of the conversation until she was much older and things began making no sense without it._

_“So is she alright?” Heechul asked,_

_“Physically she’s healing nicely.”_

_“Physically?”_

_“We wont know of any mental issues or brain damage---”_

_“BRAIN DAMAGE!?”_

_“Bad word choice, I apologise.” The doctor said sheepishly, “ What I mean is that the mental side affects of the incident will not be obvious until she is a little older. However, based on a few tests I must tell you she may be a bit slow developmentally.”_

_“In what way?”_

_“She may behave as though she is younger than her age, she will find it easier being lead by someone older so to prevent any issues with her falling into the wrong crowd try putting her with your older children for her to bond with. The main thing would be puberty, the physical signs will come on time but the mental processes and attitudes will probably come a little later than everyone else.”_

_“But she’s healthy? She’s okay?”_

_“Of course,” The doctor smiled, “It’s good you care for her.”_

_“Whether she likes it or not she’s my kid, like the others. I love her like my own.”_

_The doctor laughed, “If you were straight I’d snap you up!”_

_“What’s straight mean?” Momo asked,_

_Heechul baulked and the doctor dismissed them before bolting out her own office._

_ _

Developmentally slow - something Momo had never forgotten about herself. She had gotten the training wheels off her bike late, she had to practice harder during her dances because she picked them up slower, she liked pink and was childish. And dumb. All because some evil, evil men decided to see if her skull bounced. Now she may not even graduate, her whole life was being thrown away because of something that had been forced to happen to her when she was a child. As she left the classroom, date of her resit set, she chose to sit on a bench in the hall rather than go home. It was the end of the day but she didn’t feel like going home just yet.

She stared at the failed test in her hand, lamenting quietly to herself over how stupid she really was. She would fail the resit and then be held back, then be held back again, constantly at the finish line with no way to cross. No way to finish. She kept tears back, anyone could come down the hallway and she really didn’t fancy them running to Jeongyeon and being forced to hear fake words of praise from her elder sister.

Then a blur passed her and she looked up.

“Sana?”

The figure stopped and sprinted back to where Momo was, eyes wide, whole body shaking. Sana was never usually this terrified, not unless there was a thunder storm raging outside, but there she was looking as though she was faced with death itself.

“Sana, what’s wrong?” Momo asked, standing,

Sana was panting, “Rose…found out…how Mr Tuan got fired.”

Momo blinked, “Ookay?”

“He…” Sana swallowed and caught her breath a moment, “He attacked someone in his evening class that day. Tzuyu’s class.”

Momo’s gut twisted.

“Tzuyu really liked him and then stopped talking about him remember,” Sana had little tears in her eyes, waiting for the final blow before allowing them to shed, “She’s been so off lately…I started connecting the dots and…and…”

“And?”

Momo didn’t want to hear this.

_ _

__“__I asked Hyewon…”

Momo really didn’t want to hear this.

“God…Momo…he attacked her!” Sana was sobbing now, “He just attacked her at the end of class, if Elkie hadn’t--”

“Elkie?”

“She pulled him off,” Sana explained, “But if she hadn’t been there…he could’ve…could’ve…”

Momo knew damn well what that man could have done.

She hugged Sana to her, mind racing back to how sad Tzuyu’s eyes had been for the last few weeks. Why hadn’t she told them? Why was she carrying all this by herself? They needed to talk to someone, but she hadn’t the heart to call her fathers. She couldn’t be the one to break their hearts this way.

“We need to speak to the Principle.” Momo muttered, “We need to find out why nobody was told.”

Sana nodded and wiped Momo’s own tears away. She didn’t even realise she was crying. Tzuyu, baby Tzuyu….who would hurt someone so kind? So pure? They told the principle what they knew and the woman became distressed to know nobody but her aunt was aware of what had happened and so she phoned the Kim fathers herself. She requested they came in and explained to Leeteuk briefly what had happened, the men were horrified and agreed to be there within the hour. As Sana and Momo began texting their siblings to come back to school and meet them outside the principles office (even demanding Nayeon’s presence - the girl was already on route with their fathers).

The cavalry had finally arrived, but were they too late?

Meanwhile Tzuyu was just getting on the bus when she opened her phone to a message from Aunt Sunmi that made her blood runcold.

“What’s up?” Hyewon asked, knowing the answer from when the blood drained from Tzuyu’s face,

“I…I’m gonna walk home.” Tzuyu announced, running off the bus and receiving angry shouts from the other borders she practically shoved over in her escape down the street,

** _From: Aunt Sunmi_ **

_You lied to me. The school have called your Appas, they’re furious at me._

** _From: Aunt Sunmi_ **

_You’re not doing this alone, I’ll be by your side - okay kiddo? Truth is out now x_


	19. The Truth Comes Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tzuyu runs from the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever to write! Apologies!

** **

** **Truth Comes Out** **

** **

The ride home in the family mini-van was silent.

No Jihyo singing along to the radio, no Nayeon and Jeongyeon arguing, no Sana babbling into her phone or Chaeyoung and Dahyun making Mina giggle at their jokes. Nothing but the hum of the motor as white knuckled Heechul drove through the streets of Seoul towards home and the hammering rain on the wind shield. Leeteuk stared out the window, eyes red from his earlier meltdown and throat sore from screaming at his sister down the phone. Because she knew, she had known this whole time and didn’t tell them. The worst part, well one of the worst at least, was that Tzuyu wasn’t picking up her phone. Jihyo, who could never sit idle especially when she was stressed, sat in the middle row of the mini-van calling the youngest’s phone over and over. At one point she had contacted Hyewon via social media to ask if she had seen Tzuyu, but the younger girl had said that Tzuyu had wanted to walk home.

Heechul and Leeteuk had watched the video in the Principal’s office, they had demanded to. They had to see for themselves what had happened, only to immediately regret it once they did. Tzuyu was supposed to be safe here, things like that shouldn’t be able to happen any more. They felt they had let her down, they HAD let her down. Their sombre mood was mirrored in the sisters who each thought back over how Tzuyu had been acting lately. It all made sense now. The acting out, the distance, the sadness in her eyes. Why hadn’t she told them? Everyone always said the girls were so close, they usually told each other everything….right? The amount of secrets in the van begged to differ.

Eventually it was Nayeon that tried to raise spirits, “It could be worse.”

“How!?” Jeongyeon snapped, not so much angry at Nayeon but more so at the situation,

“At least it was only a kiss…right?”

“She has a point.” Jihyo sighed, “We need to count our blessings and be happy nothing more serious happened to baby Tzu.”

They stopped at a red light and Heechul looked at his husband, who looked back - tired. A decision was made.

“It’s a bit more serious than that.” Leeteuk sighed, rubbing his forehead, his headache had been raging for a while now,

The girls were silent again.

“What we’re about to tell you isn’t really for us to say, but given the situation…you all need to understand why this is such a big deal.”

“About Tzuyu?” Mina asked quietly,

“Yes. About Tzuyu.”

Then they were told a story, a story so horrific about the tortures Tzuyu had endured as a young child on the streets of Taiwan. They spared some finer details, choosing instead to tell them the dark truth as delicately as they could. This time the following silence was deafening, each girl taking a moment to steady their heads and attempt to stop feeling queasy. Nayeon wanted to throw up, who would do those types of awful things to a child? She almost wished they had never been told, that they had lived in blissful ignorance, that they could protect each other from the evil world around them. But that was a shattered ideal now. A few things began making sense, Tzuyu had always appeared older than she was, making many believe even Nayeon was younger than her. While Nayeon had always been the one to pull out the baby voice and demand princess treatment, Tzuyu would roll her yes and make a quick quip. Like their roles were reversed. She felt awful for that, she spent so long being the fake maknae she forgot she needed to look out for the real one.

They pulled up to the house finally and could seen Sunmi pacing on their porch. The girls got out slowly once the car stopped, leaving their fathers a moment of privacy. Neither man spoke for a moment before Leeteuk let out a sob, prompting his husbands gaze to land on him immediately.

“She tried to tell me….” He whimpered, “The day it happened, she came in looking like a ghost. She tried but I was so distracted….oh God I’m an awful father.”

Heechul reached over the centre console and pulled him into a hug, “You couldn’t have known, none of us did. You’re not a bad father.”

“I am….I am….”

As the duo sobbed in the car the girls greeted there aunt with hugs, ignoring the rain that clung to their coats. Sana was the first inside, immediately calling Tzuyu’s name through the dark house trying to coax her out of hiding. Only she wasn’t home. This brought on a slight panic, they’d been at the school for two hours after the girls all met up with Sana and Momo outside the principal’s office - Tzuyu should have been home by now. Sana nearly tore the house apart, but Tzuyu definitely wasn’t home. This time it wasn’t the thunder clapping in the distance that caused her anxiety to flair, it was brought on by self reflection over her actions recently. She remembered how mad Tzuyu had been about Sana taking those pills, about her taking drugs. They had always known that Tzuyu’s mother had been a heroine addict, that was something Tzuyu had always been open about. They all knew Tzuyu would have seen things no child should of seen but not….not that…not any of that. It was then Sana got it, sure pills were different than heroine. But if Sana were so inclined one could lead to the other, like how people get addicted to pain medication. God…she should apologise to Tzuyu.

She stood in Tzuyu’s bedroom, the younger girl had never really kept a lot of possessions. When she had first arrived this room had been a rather large linen closet, Tzuyu had shared Chaeyoung’s room initially but when Dahyun arrived and the new room built Chaeyoung begged to share with Dahyun instead. Not to be cruel, Sana could never see Chaeyoung as cruel, but rather because she was excited about her best friend moving in. The walls were white and bare, the only items on the floor were her shoes all lined neatly up against the back wall. There was a tidy desk on the left, a bed on the right and on the back of the door hung Tzuyu’s bow and quiver on a hook. Minimalist. Not like Sana, who’s possessions were EVERYWHERE in her shared room, as well as Momo’s (drove Mina nuts but she herself had plenty of game memorabilia out). Sana never spent a lot of time in Tzuyu’s room, usually because she had no real reason to - she mostly stayed with Mina or Momo and if Tzuyu was going to stick to anyone it would be Jihyo. But right now the whole room looked cold, that type of stale cold when you walk into your bedroom after a long day with no heating on.

Returning downstairs she found Appa Leeteuk on the phone with Tzuyu’s social worker, letting him know what was going on. Mina was stood away from the others, lip worrying between her teeth. Sana walked over to her and put her arm round her twin for comfort. Mina was probably the only person there that understood why Tzuyu hadn’t said anything, not due to the potentially traumatic reasons but rather she knew how hard it was to shout over everyone else. In retrospect Mina noted a few times Tzuyu had been asked a question which could have lead to a confession of why she was so down lately, only everyone talked over her and the conversation just continued. Being quiet, like herself, meant that often Tzuyu was sat on the outside looking in. Mina had always tried to involve her when she noticed but she supposed lately she’d been so fussed with her inappropriate crush that she just didn’t notice.

Thunder rumbled outside and Sana gripped her arm tightly with a whimper, Mina frowned - she hoped Tzuyu wasn’t out there.

“Okay, we should go out and look for her.” Heechul announced once Leeteuk was off the phone, “We start from the house and comb out. I’ll head north towards the city, Lee if you head towards the industrial district and Sunmi heads in the opposite direction we should cover our bases.”

“If Sunmi drops us by the school we can walk the route she would have taken.” Nayeon suggested,

“Good idea,” Heechul nodded, “Someone should stay behind in case she comes home.”

“I’ll stay,” Dahyun said quietly, “This seems like a family thing.”

“You are family!” Chaeyoung snapped,

“I know,” Dahyun smiled sadly, “But Tzuyu and I aren’t close, she needs you guys more.”

“I’ll stay too,” Mina announced, “I don’t know much help I’ll be.”

More thunder caused Sana to flinch again.

“Sana?” Momo called, “You wanna stay behind too?”

“No I want to help.” was the response through gritted teeth,

“You sure---”

“I’m going.”

Leeteuk sighed, “So it’s decided, we’ll search for an hour. Her social worker is going to drive round himself to see if he can spot her. If we can’t find her we all come home and call the police. Dahyun, Mina? Can you two message anyone you can think of to see I they’ve seen her?”

“Can do.”

“If anyone does find her,” Heechul said, “Remember to show her how much we love her and let her know she isn’t in trouble. We just want her home.”

The remaining girls piled into Sunmi’s car, minus Nayeon who opted to stay behind too. The car didn’t have enough seats and so Chaeyoung ended up sat in the foot well by Sana’s feet. Jihyo was sat on the other side, Momo comforting Sana from her spot in the middle following every thunder clap. Sana was being brave and Jihyo knew Tzuyu, one day when the pain was over, would appreciate it. Jihyo had received the text from Momo during a student council meeting and had ran out without saying anything. She had been the one to cry at news, everyone had been stunned about her sudden water works - Jihyo was the one who was usually so put together. But this was Tzuyu, sure they weren’t the types to talk every day but the fact Jihyo had not noticed Tzuyu’s distance AT ALL was in her mind disgusting.

It was no secret that Tzuyu looked up to her, from a young age Tzuyu had always looked to Jihyo for guidance and advice. Even as Jihyo got busier and busier she always made time for Tzuyu. The fact Tzuyu didn’t tell her something this important was devastating to her. What was worse was that someone had let slip to Jennie that Tzuyu had been the one assaulted and now social media was filled with people talking about it. Tzuyu wouldn’t like all the attention and would probably be off school for a while until it had blown over. She kept an eye out the window, hoping to see the familiar tall figure through the rain. Though in all honesty she had no idea what she’d do if she did see her, jump out and run to hug her? Ask her why she said nothing? Tzuyu was never open about her thoughts or feelings, it was like talking about personal things made her feel weak so she ensured nobody ever saw her as vulnerable. As Jihyo tried yet again to call her phone she cursed the younger girl’s name, why couldn’t she just tell them things? Why did she have to fight the world on her own?

Then her phone vibrated and Jihyo whipped her phone up straight away hoping it was a message from Tzuyu…only it wasn’t.

** _From Unknown:_ **

_Hey Jihyo, it’s Daniel - from the party? Anyway I heard about Tzuyu and just wanted to say if you guys need anything just let me know._

_ _

Why would Daniel message her? Maybe he was just being nice, he seemed like the type to just try and help anyone he could. Yeah, it wasn’t about Jihyo at all - it was just him trying to be kind and helpful during a horrific event. Because he was a good guy, that was it.

** _To Daniel:_ **

_Thank you, Tzuyu’s missing atm so if you see her around could you let me know?_

_ _

He responded almost immediately taking Jihyo by surprise.

** _From Daniel:_ **

_Of course! I live by the mall so I’ll get dressed and search there, see if she’s doing some retail therapy. _

** _To Daniel:_ **

_You don’t have to do that!_

** _From Daniel:_ **

_It’s fine, I just want to help you find her. Keep me posted?_

** **

** _To Daniel:_ **

_Thank you…we’re so worried about her._

** _From Daniel:_ **

_Don’t worry, she’ll turn up x_

_ _

Jihyo sighed, why did he have to make it so hard to get over this stupid crush!?

Sunmi dropped the girls outside the school, the building looming and dark due to the time of day and the rain - the scene of the crime. Chaeyoung looked up at it, usually her adrenaline craving would compel her to break in and vandalise something but now she didn’t want to be anywhere near that place. She felt too guilty. Her mind just kept going back to that conversation she had over text with Mina. Tzuyu used to tell her everything, back when they shared a room and would sit up after being sent to bed and tell each other “secrets”. Sure, they were kiddie secrets - nowhere near the ones they had now in terms of seriousness but more like their celebrity crushes or gossip on the older girls. Chaeyoung tried remembering when they had last had a night like that and realised it would have been before Dahyun moved in.

She was walking ahead with Jeongyeon, Momo and Sana holding hands behind while Jihyo followed along at the back of the group. Chaeyoung looked at her elder sister, watching her call out Tzuyu’s name into the rain.

“Do you think I ignored Tzuyu when Dahyun came?” She asked,

Jeongyeon looked at her, heart breaking at the sight of Chaeyoung’s eyes looking so sad, “I think that was when you two began to grow apart, but that happens it isn’t anyone’s fault.”

“I just realised I don’t know anything about her any more.” Chaeyoung frowned,

“You can always get to know her again.” Jeongyeon reasoned gently, “You just have to be willing to try, she’s not the most open person at the best of times.”

Chaeyoung thought over that idea, Jeongyeon was right. Once they found her Chaeyoung would have all the time in the world to earn back the friendship she once had with her younger sister. It sucked that it had taken such an awful event for her to realise how little they spoke now, but she would change that. Anger then coursed through her, replacing the guilt. Now Chaeyoung still had a few friends that lived on the streets, they still taught her things from time to time. Like how to deal with people that hurt those she cared about. If she ever ran into that teacher again she didn’t know what she’d do, but she knew it would cause him a lot of physical pain. For now she would focus on finding her sister and letting her know that she was going to be there for her a lot more than she had been.

Jeongyeon felt terrible.

They all did, by now that was clear but for Jeongyeon it was a lot heavier in her chest. She had known something was wrong and had written it off to teen angst, but that wasn’t how Tzuyu was. She was quiet and would occasionally brood in the corner, it wasn’t in her nature to be cruel. Jeongyeon had realised something when her attitude started; Jeongyeon and Momo were close, Sana and Mina had each other, Jihyo usually went to Nayeon about things and Chaeyoung had Dahyun - Tzuyu was always the odd one out. Up until recently the only friend Jeongyeon knew she had was Hyewon, Tzuyu must have felt so lonely at the house. Jeongyeon still remembered that time she ruined Tzuyu’s new archery uniform and Sunmi scolded her. Her promise to be the best big sister she could hung over her head, she had failed.

She had taken that promise to mean she needed to be overprotective, trying to get her away from someone who she had now learned was a good friend to her. That wasn’t what Tzuyu needed, Tzuyu just wanted someone to notice her pain and she hadn’t. Jeongyeon had let her down, they all had. They passed an alley, in which were two people Jeongyeon recognised. She immediately took the turn and Amber bristled when she spotted her going for Elkie. The duo had seen the rumours online and had gone out to try and find where Tzuyu had gone. When the rain got heavier they had ducked into the alley in order to shield themselves a little while planning their next move. Elkie had been panicking ever since her texts were ignored, Tzuyu always replied to her.

“I don’t wanna fight,” Elkie snapped as Jeongyeon approached, “Not now.”

Jeongyeon just stared at her a moment.

“What?”

“Thank you.”

The sincerity in Jeongyeon’s eyes startled Elkie, that was certainly not what she expected. She exchanged a look with Amber who looked equally as confused.

“You saved her and supported her when we couldn’t,” She explained, “I don’t like you and Tzuyu can do better but I still owe you for being there when she needed you.”

Elkie shrugged awkwardly, “I care about her, whether you like me or not she knows that I’ll always have her back.”

“Do you have any idea where she could be?” Jeongyeon asked,

Elkie nodded, “We were going to try by the Han River, she has a specific part she likes - if you comb along the river she’ll probably be there.”

“Okay, thanks!” Jeongyeon turned to head back to where the others waited on the street,

“Can you get her to text me when you find her?” Elkie called, “Please? Just to know she’s okay.”

“I will.”

They ran down the street to the park that surrounded part of the Han. Once they arrived they decided to split up, Sana went with Jihyo as Momo was the fastest runner She bolted ahead as the others walked along behind, if Momo didn’t spot her through the rain they would but chances were Momo would find her first and the others could call their Appas to pick them up. Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung headed the opposite way while Jihyo and Sana crossed the bridge to search the other side. This was one of those few times Momo was in unnie mode, her legs were burning and the rain hitting her face was making it hard to see but she was not going to stop, not until Tzuyu was safe and at home where she belonged. After a while she stopped to catch her breath, panting and looking out into the mist around her. As she pulled her hood back up over her head, it fell while she ran, she spotted a figure curled up in a ball by the river bank. It was like all her energy snapped back and she took off,not too many people would be out in the pouring rain and thunder this late.

Tzuyu was shivering, no coat, school bag soaked through. She was staring out over the water, no longer reacting to the rain as it battered her. Without even thinking about it Momo took off her own coat and draped it over the shaking girl’s shoulders. She practically fell next to her and hugged her tight, ignoring the stiffness that consumed Tzuyu at the sudden contact. When she realised it was Momo she relaxed a little but there was still tension there.

“Tzuyu are you okay?”

Tzuyu didn’t answer, instead just curling into this new warmth Momo provided. She’d been sat there in her own thoughts for hours and only just realised how cold she was. The older girl shot a text to the others letting them know she’d found her and that she would bring her home. The other girls offered to walk home and Sunmi said she’d come pick up Momo and Tzuyu and get the poor girl out of the rain.

“You shouldn’t have run away,” Momo told her, “You should have told us.”

“I tried.” Tzuyu muttered, voice hoarse, “Nobody was listening to me.”

Momo’s heart broke at the defeat in Tzuyu’s voice, “I’m listening now, we’re family and we love you.”

Tzuyu let out a sob, “No we’re not. We aren’t related, why do you even care?”

Tzuyu never cried.

“Hey!” Momo snapped, “What does being related have to do with anything? Just because our real families didn’t want us doesn’t mean we never get another chance. The best part about being left behind is that now…now we get to choose our family. And I think our family is pretty great.”

Tzuyu continued crying in Momo’s arms, “I’m sorry.”

“I love you Chewy.” Momo pecked the top of her head,

“I’m sorry…”

“Let’s go home.”

Sunmi came to pick them up and when they got home the girls were told not to overwhelm her right now and so they stayed in the living room fighting the urge to run out into the hall where their Appas were hugging Tzuyu tightly, promising her that they would never let anything like that happen again. Apologising over and over for letting her down, but they weren’t sure she was listening. She was icy to the touch and almost immediately sent upstairs to have a bath and warm herself up. Sunmi went up to run it, hugging her brother before she went up so that the air was cleared between them. Things were said out of anger but they were family and so they knew they needed one another. An hour later Tzuyu had warmed up and was sat up in bed quietly, she had texted Elkie to let her know she was home safe. The other girl had been worried and blown up her phone all night but had accepted Tzuyu request for space to deal with the aftermath of everything for a few days. Tzuyu really liked Elkie, she didn’t know what they were but she knew she wanted more.

There was a knock and Jihyo poked her head round.

“Hey…”

Tzuyu smiled a small smile and that was taken as a sign she could come in.

“How you feeling?” Jihyo asked laying next to Tzuyu on her bed,

“I think I’m getting sick.”

“You were out in the rain for a while so I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Tzuyu hummed, “Are you gonna make me talk about it?”

“No.” Jihyo told her, playing with her hair softly, “When you want to though, we’ll listen.”

Another knock came and Sana walked in with Mina and some tea.

“Tea always makes me feel better after a storm.” Sana smiled, placing the mug on the bedside table,

She had already drunk her own when the storm outside became a light patter of rain against the window, that had sparked the idea of bringing some up to Tzuyu. Jihyo shuffled closer so that Mina could squeeze under the covers with Sana also jumping on - legs draped over the girls’ and her back against the wall. The door opened again, Nayeon walked in and smiled.

“Guess I wasn’t the only one with this idea,” She looked at Sana, “Scoot!”

“Room for two more?”

Everyone looked to the door where Chaeyoung and Dahyun were peaking round, resembling floating heads. Tzuyu just nodded, head resting on Jihyo’s chest as the older girl continued to play with her hair. With no more room on the bed, Chaeyoung and Dahyun sat on the floor resting their back against the bed.

“I know this wont mean much,” Dahyun said standing awkwardly in the room, “But I prayed for you, not in a weird way just that they’d find you and bring you home safe and sound. I’m glad they did.”

Tzuyu knew that religion meant a lot to Dahyun, that praying was something important to her and so recognised that Dahyun was trying to show she cared, “Thank you, it means a lot.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Chaeyoung asked,

“Chaeyoung!” Nayeon snapped in warning,

“Sorry…just….” The second youngest sighed, “I wanted to know.”

Tzuyu looked at the faces of her sisters and noted the unsaid questions in their eyes, she swallowed and sat up as best she could.

“When I was little Mama told me it was a secret, that no one would believe me. So we never talked about it, I wasn’t used to talking about it.”

“Oh…” Was Chaeyoung’s response, “No offence but you’re Mama’s an idiot.”

Tzuyu cracked a smile, “Yeah I know.”

The door opened a final time and a pile of blankets with legs entered followed by Jeongyeon.

“We saw you were all heading in here so thought blankets were needed!” She explained as Momo dropped the fabrics on Sana who whined in response,

Momo noted Tzuyu was still wearing the jacket Momo had given her earlier, that was fine Tzuyu could keep it if she needed it. The dancer pushed Nayeon and sat next to her in the final available space on the bed. Jeongyeon settled for the desk chair, turning it to face the others and stealing a blanket to wrap round herself. Guilt was all over her face.

“I’m sorry for…y’know everything over the last few weeks.”

“It’s cool, I’m sorry for being a brat.”

“I get it,” Jeongyeon smiled, “You’re the youngest - you’re allowed to be a brat. I don’t know what Nayeon’s excuse is though…”

There was a laugh from the others and a scoff from Nayeon as she grabbed one of the spare blankets and flung it at Jeongyeon.

“Oh! I also still hate Elkie but I’ll try and back off a little…just till everything’s back to normal and then I will continue asking her to back up!”

“I guess I can deal with that.”

Order was restored and they sat up for a little while laughing and joking, Tzuyu just stayed quiet laying on Jihyo’s chest as the elder played with her hair as she slowly dozed off. She wouldn’t say she was happy, she couldn’t be with everything that had happened, but in this moment she had what she had wanted for a long time - to be involved with her sisters. She felt, for lack of a better word, content in this little bubble they had made in the warmth of her room. Eventually she fell asleep, the first decent sleep in weeks, and the girls hadn’t the heart to leave her.

So when their Appas peaked in to check on Tzuyu they found nine girls asleep around the room, all bundled together with a mug of tea going cold on the bedside table. They smiled, happy that something good had come out of all the hurt. Tomorrow would be harder, the family would be forced back to the rumours, gossip and pain of the real world but that was alright, they’d survive together. They were family after all!

That was the best part about being left behind, they were able to chose their family - and theirs was pretty great!


	20. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo, Nayeon and Tzuyu get sick and discuss life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6 of 12 days of ficmas!
> 
> To see the other updates check my twitter @Elcten.

** **Sick** **

** **

“ACHOIYOIY!”

Momo had always had a unique sneeze, Sana did too so for a while the family had all believed it was a Japanese thing until Mina’s pretty normal sneezes showed them otherwise. The truth had come out a few days ago and since then Tzuyu and Momo had both been off school. Tzuyu would have been off anyway until things died down but due to being out in the rain both she and Momo had both come down with nasty colds and so were confined to Tzuyu’s room. Somehow Nayeon too had gotten ill, less sneezing and coughing and more vomiting, headaches and tiredness but all three were now under quarantine.

In this house if one person got sick, everybody got sick and so quarantine was required to prevent an outbreak. They were all grumpy about not feeling well but both Nayeon and Momo were somewhat happy about spending time with Tzuyu. It had been agreed that once they all felt better they’d have more of those nights like the one after Tzuyu was brought home, just the sisters all together joking around.

Only not in Tzuyu’s room. Elkie had come by at six in the morning and scared the shite out of Jeongyeon when her face appeared at the second story window. Safe to say the duo were back to hating each other but Jeongyeon made a point of not being too cruel where Tzuyu could see them.

“Ugh,” Momo whined, “I’m dying.”

“Join the club.” Was Tzuyu’s response,

“At least you two aren’t vomiting every hour.” Nayeon complained,

“True.”

The trio were laid in Tzuyu’s bed. Momo had put on a film to watch while Nayeon tried to nap. The eldest was at the side of the bed that wasn’t against the wall so that she could run to the bathroom if she needed to. Momo was in the middle, she’d been getting cold chills and so wanted to snuggle between her sisters. Tzuyu was on the other side, texting Elkie with a small smile.

Momo noticed, “She treats you well right?”

“Hmm?”

“Elkie,” Momo said, “She looks after you, right?”

Nayeon turned over to see Tzuyu’s face when she replied.

Tzuyu nodded, “She does.”

“Are you two dating?” Nayeon asked, interested,

Tzuyu shrugged, “I don’t know. We’ve kissed a few times--”

“Wait, a few times?” Momo smirked, “You’ve been holding out on us, I thought the party was the only time!”

Tzuyu blushed, she hoped the duo would put it down to a fever, “She kissed me for the first time after that whole…incident went down. She said it was so that my first kiss with a man could be bad but my first kiss with a girl would be better.”

“Tzuyu…”

Tzuyu sent them a sad smile, she was okay.

“Achoo!”

Nayeon rolled her eyes, “You were so cute until the snot rocket.”

Momo laughed, “Do you remember the last time we all got sick?”

“Christmas dinner right?” Nayeon laughed, “Appa Heechul bought bad beef from this shady market stall and we all got food poisoning.”

“That was a dark few days.” Tzuyu shuddered,

Momo chuckled, “No it wasn’t. We took the heater up into the tree house and hung out up there.”

“Oh yeah!” Nayeon laughed, “Jihyo puked over the railing and it froze in the snow.”

“You guys didn’t let me up.” Tzuyu commented, “You said I was too young.”

Momo and Nayeon exchanged a look.

“It was fine,” Tzuyu shrugged, smiling at them, “Me and the Appas watched Christmas movies all day and made a blanket fort.”

Somehow it didn’t make them feel any better. Momo cuddled up to Tzuyu, “Baby Tzuyu! We were so mean to you when we were kids.”

“It’s okay.” Tzuyu sighed,

“No it’s not.” Nayeon told her, “We’re going to try and….try and…oh no!”

Nayeon bolted out the room, hand over her mouth. They watched her go, they pitied her a little. Neither of them had been sick, whatever illness she had was worse than their colds that was for sure. Momo remained cuddled up to Tzuyu, running her fingers through long dark hair.

“I’m sorry I got you sick.” Tzuyu whispered after a while,

“What do you mean?”

“You were only out in the rain because of me,” Tzuyu said, sounding timid, “If I hadn’t disappeared you wouldn’t have been out there.”

“I’d do it again.” Momo told her firmly, “I’m not always the best unnie but I do love you Tzuyu, I’ll always come looking for you.”

“I think you’re a good unnie.” Tzuyu told her starting to doze off,

Momo was taken aback a little, “R-Really?”

“Yeah,” Was the breathy reply, “You always looked after me when everyone else was distracted. I was glad that you found me, your hugs are *yawn* special.”

“Th-Thanks, Tzu. You get some sleep.”

“Mm kay.”

Momo felt tears prick but quickly blinked them away. Nayeon walked back in looking like death, “Ugh what’s wrong with my body?”

Momo hushed her quietly, Tzuyu’s breathing against her shoulder had evened out meaning she was sleeping. Nayeon mimed zipping her mouth shut and climbed into bed.

“Tzuyu said I’m a good unnie.” Momo whispered,

“You are.” Nayeon told her, “Not many people would run through the rain to find their little sister and then give her the jacket of their backs.”

“I did what any of you would have done.”

“Maybe, but you were the first to jump up to do it.” Nayeon sensed Momo needed to be reassured about something but didn’t know what, “You’re selfless Momo. You’d stay up all night coaxing Sana through a thunder storm, you always give Chaeyoung compliments on her art no matter how disturbing her imagination is sometimes, you listen to every piano piece Dahyun composes, you drive Jihyo to and from all her activities when Appas are busy. I love Jeongyeon but when I went to college you stepped up to look after everyone. You’re a great unnie Momo, I hope you know that.”

“Thank you…sometimes I’m not sure.”

“Well of course you’re great! You learned from the best!”

Momo giggled. Tzuyu suddenly whined in her sleep, she’d been having nightmares a lot lately so Momo knew to keep stroking her hair until she calmed. Nayeon frowned looked at her.

“I still feel guilty.”

“We all do.” Momo sighed, “But we had no way to know, we can’t focus on guilt we need to focus on being there for her now.”

“You’re pretty smart, you know that?”

This time Momo did sniffle, she’d never been called smart before. It struck a big chord with her. She’d only ever been called dumb and, while she didn’t really believe it, hearing her sisters tell her that she was smart meant the world to her. Sensing this was a conversation to have when they were healthier, Nayeon rolled over and cuddled into Momo offering her the comfort the younger girl had given Tzuyu as she wept quietly. This was probably yet another sign that Nayeon should be around more, not just for the younger girls but the older ones too. She had just left them to fend for themselves forgetting that they would also need guidance. That was her mistake, she wouldn’t leave them behind again.

She thought back to that Christmas a few years ago, before they all got food poisoning. They had all sat round the table pulling crackers and laughing and joking. In the end that memory of the warmth and the joy had made up for the stomach problems over the following few days. They would have to do that again sometime soon, steal the heater and go up into the tree house - with Tzuyu this time. It had become apparent recently that they had all neglected the youngest a little bit and she sought to change that before she returned to college.

There were still a lot of things that remained unsaid but they’d be dealt with over time and as the four of them lay in that bed, they had no idea how complicated things were about to get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I didn’t miscount. Prompts welcome :)


	21. Just Hold Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elkie takes things too far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So I have switched Heechul for Siwon (I know nothing about Super Junior so gonna keep his personality as the fun/protective parent).
> 
> For the sake of laziness they’re keeping the last name Kim despite nobody having that name.
> 
> I promised my favourite author I would do some ET content because I SWEAR TO GOD THEY ARE FUCKING CANNON!

** **

** **Just Hold Me** **

** **

Tense eyes watched the house from a bush across the street.

It was early, way too early, and the icy breeze was cutting into the watchers cheek. They couldn’t tell how long they had been out there for but they knew it had been a while. Their fingers had gone numb already, but it would be worth it. It would all be worth it. They had been doing their research, they knew the order in which the Kim’s would leave the house. The younger girls would leave for school, their Appas would leave for work, Nayeon would go to her friend’s house and that would leave Tzuyu all alone in the big house.

Jihyo always left first, there were three buses that the girls could get to not be late and Jihyo always got on the first one. She had too much work to do before school, at the moment that mainly consisted off damage control following a teacher assaulting a student. It had been difficult as she had to separate herself from what happened. Having to arrange assemblies and campaign against grooming, having to use her baby sister as an example - it was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

Tzuyu would get that bus with her, mostly so they could spend some time together but she was still off school. It made the journey all the more lonely.

Mina, Dahyun and Chaeyoung would leave for the second bus normally but lately they hadn’t been in the mood to get to school early. Before they would meet Somi at the gates and just hang out until the bell but now they just wanted to stay in. Chaeyoung was trying to spend more time with Tzuyu and Dahyun was also trying to get to know her a little better. Mina for her part was happy to leave whenever the other two wished, always preferring the role of a follower not a leader.

Jeongyeon and Momo were the types of students who didn’t really care about arriving on time and so usually sprinted for the last bus - barely making it. Sana would leave around that same time, only Rosé would pick her up. This routine hadn’t really changed so the watcher observed the eldest two students burst out their front door and sprint for the bus stop. Moments later Rosé’s convertible pulled up outside and beeped the horn.

After ten minutes or so Nayeon would go out for the day, ever since the incident she had requested to finish her college semester from home. While the others were at school she’d head to the library to do her work for a few hours before coming back around lunch time. Leeteuk would offer to drive her, the library was next to where he worked, which only left two inhabitants of the house.

When Siwon walked out that day the observer did a quick double take….something seemed different about the man. Maybe a new haircut?

He got into the minivan and drove off, leaving Tzuyu all alone for a few hours.

Still she waited an extra moment to make sure no one was coming back before leaving her shrub. Stealth mode activated she ninja-ed over to the house and jumped the side gate to the back yard. Her plan was to through rocks at the only inhabitants bedroom window but when she spotted said girl in the kitchen eating cereal her mind changed.

Tzuyu screamed when a knock came at the glass door next to her, panicking her stalker let herself in and began apologising.

“Elkie!” Tzuyu snapped, hand over heart and covered in spilt cereal, “You can’t do that to people.”

“I’m so sorry!” Elkie was bright red,

She looked around and grabbed the tea towel to try and mop up the milk but Tzuyu stopped her.

“There’s a mop under the stairs.”

“Yes ma’am!”

She sprinted off to find the mop, sliding a little in the milk as she went. Tzuyu watched her run off and a dumb smile stretched across her face, it was weird how Elkie could make everything feel better. The shadow was still hanging over her and it would for a while but when Elkie was there it just felt…better. Even as the idiot poorly mopped up the fallen cereal (to the point where Tzuyu had to take over) Tzuyu couldn’t lose the smile on her face.

Once the mess was cleaned up Tzuyu led Elkie up to her room, it had kind of become her hiding spot over the last few weeks. Like a safe space. She felt comfortable in there and so didn’t like being out of it too long. Her Appas even reversed their “no food in bedrooms” rule just for her, they were currently walking on egg shells a little but it was only because they cared.

Elkie jumped on to Tzuyu’s bed and the younger rolled her eyes. This was why she liked Elkie, she was the only one that treated her normally. Following her she lay down, pulling her laptop over to watch films on.

“So why aren’t you at school?” Tzuyu asked once some old film was playing,

Elkie went red, “Well…I didn’t know when you’d be back and I wanted to check up on you.”

“I told you I was fine.”

“That’s not the same,” Elkie sighed, rolling on her side to look at her, “I needed to see you with my own eyes.”

Tzuyu met her eyes, for once not looking away from the intensity.

“Why do you care about me?”

“I told you…”

“I don’t understand, I thought you only hung out with me to fuck with Jeongyeon.”

Elkie went red again, “Maybe at first but…then I realised I really liked talking to you. You’re just so…”

“So?”

“Pure.” Elkie settled on, “I’ve never anyone so pure and innocent before. Even after everything you’ve gone through you still see the world in such a precious way. It’s inspiring actually.”

Tzuyu snorted, “No it’s not.”

“Yes,” Elkie grabbed her hand, “It is.”

Tzuyu searched her face and a heavy atmosphere settled over the room. Before she could second think Tzuyu closed the gap and kissed her softly. Elkie froze a moment, having instigated their last two kisses this was new, but then cupped Tzuyu’s face and began kissing back. This wasn’t like the chaste kiss in front of the school, nor was it the slow make-out session that Jeongyeon interrupted at the party. It was heavy and passionate, fuelled by teenage hormones and lust.

Elkie nipped her bottom lip and Tzuyu’s mouth opened, happy to let Elkie take the lead here. When a gentle tongue invaded her mouth she let out a noise. Taking that as a good thing Elkie gently moved so that she could hold Tzuyu above her. Elkie’s hand left her face and began gently rubbing her side. The other copying the movements on the opposite side. Tzuyu took note of the action but her head felt clouded by this intense kiss.

They parted for air and Elkie began leaving little kisses on her neck. Tzuyu let out another noise and felt Elkie smirk against her skin. Her hands moved down and gently rubbed over Tzuyu’s flat stomach, this sparked some sort of dark feeling within her. Not thinking on it too much Tzuyu pulled Elkie’s mouth back to hers, trying to find some comfort in another kiss.

When Elkie’s hands moved under her shirt Tzuyu stilled.

Memories flooded her vision.

She pulled back and slapped Elkie hard.

“OW!”

Tzuyu blinked.

“I’m so sorry…I don’t know why I did that.”

Elkie sat up rubbing her cheek, she was about to complain but then she saw the utter panic in Tzuyu’s eyes.

“H-Hey, it’s okay…are you?”

Tzuyu opened her mouth.

“Don’t lie to me.”

Her mouth closed again, tears pricking in her eyes, “I….I….”

Elkie hugged her, leaving Tzuyu awkwardly straddling with her head tucked into Elkie’s neck.

“It’s alright,” Elkie told her, “What happened?”

“I just….” Tzuyu pulled away to look Elkie, “My brain just…panicked.”

“That’s okay,” Elkie ran a gentle hand up and down her arm, “I’m sorry, I let more hormones win and I pushed to far.”

“No!” Tzuyu whined, “I was enjoying it but I flashed back to…to…”

“It’s okay.” Elkie smiled, “Why don’t we just cuddle?”

Tzuyu swallowed the lump in her throat, focusing on keeping her tears from spilling over.

“Don’t do that.”

Tzuyu looked at her, “Do what?”

“You can cry if you want to.” Elkie told her, “I’m not going to think any less of you.”

That sentence hit something in Tzuyu and suddenly she couldn’t control herself. The tears sprang forward and she had no idea what to do. Tzuyu didn’t do tears, she never cried. Not in front of people, not in private - crying didn’t change anything. But once the tears started they wouldn’t stop. Fifteen years of hurt and pain came out, she had no idea what to do.

But Elkie was there.

She pulled Tzuyu down to rest on her chest and held her, letting her cry into her jacket. She didn’t say anything, she knew Tzuyu would be too proud to talk about this ever again so they wouldn’t. At least not right now. Right now there was only one sentence that Elkie thought she needed to hear.

“I’m here, I got you.”

And she did.


	22. And Baby Make Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon gets some news.

** **And Baby Makes Ten** **

** **

Nayeon sat in the doctors office nervously.

It had been a few weeks since Momo and Tzuyu had recovered from their cold and she was still spewing her guts out every morning. With the new serious virus going around her appas had begun to worry and so Siwon had booked off work to drive her to a doctors appointment. Just a little check up to make sure it wasn’t serious. He had gone with her, Nayeon had never really liked hospitals. There was no deep reason for it, she just didn’t.

She hadn’t been feeling well at all; puking, exhaustion, needing to pee every half hour and her…chest had begun to feel quite sore. Nayeon was a little concerned. Originally she hadn’t been, instead choosing to enjoy the time spent with her sisters in quarantine. But when the other two began to get better and she didn’t they found that cause for alarm.

Hence why she was there. Sat on the cold examination table after having done a number of tests. The blood test had been her least favourite, she had gripped her Appa’s hand the whole time. Though having to pee in a cup wasn’t too thrilling either. Her Appa was not there for that one. She was glad the poking and prodding was over but now she could only await the results. Appa Siwon stood behind her, hands on her shoulders for comfort.

“Right, Ms Kim!” Dr Song smiled as her walked in, “I’ve got the results from the urine sample.”

“That was very quick.” Siwon noted,

“Our hospital is Korea’s leading medical professional specialising in plot convenience.”

“What?”

“What?” Dr Song continued, “Anyway Ms Kim, I have your results here as well as some news.”

“Good or bad?” Nayeon asked nervously, her Appa holding her shoulders tighter,

“Depends how you take it.”

Nayeon looked at her father who shrugged, he didn’t know what that could mean either.

“Right so, what’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing is wrong, necessarily my dear,” The doctor smiled kindly, “You’re six weeks pregnant.”

“I’m….what?” Nayeon felt sick,

“She’s….what?” Siwon ALSO felt sick,

“Pregnant!” The doctor did not read the room very well, “Congratulations!”

Nayeon’s hands flew to her stomach. Pregnant? How could she be pregnant? She hadn’t been with anyone since…the party! How could she be so reckless? There was a little life inside her, the whole way out to the car that was all she could think about. It was as though she could feel it, growing inside her. Her Appa asked her if she knew who the father was as they drove home and Nayeon saw the flash of disappointment go across his face when she told him she didn’t know.

That she had been wasted.

When they got home Siwon asked Leeteuk to come into his office with them to talk, ignoring the concerned looks the girls had. Nayeon kept her hands on her stomach as she sat down, still stunned. There was a life inside her, a BABY. Siwon filled Leeteuk about the situation after which there was a silence.

“So what do you want to do?” He asked after a moment,

Nayeon looked up, eyes glassy, “What do you mean?”

Leeteuk grabbed her hand, “About the baby, no matter what you choose we’ll support you. But it has to be your decision.”

“What are my options?” Her throat felt dry,

“Well,” Siwon spoke up, “You could keep it, we’ll help where we can and you can move back here full time. Or there’s adoption, we know enough to find a nice home for them. Hell we could probably find a couple to adopt before it’s born. However, if you don’t want to continue with the pregnancy---”

“I’m doing the pregnancy.” Nayeon was adamant,

She had nothing against those who wished to terminate their pregnancy for whatever reason, but for her that was not going to happen.

“And you’re right,” Nayeon continued, “We do know the system. But I…I can’t put them through that. I don’t want my kid growing up not knowing where they’re from or who I am.”

“That leaves one option.”

Nayeon sat back and thought for a moment. Could she really do it? Could she really raise a baby as a single parent? It would mean no more college, her future would change. No more parties or late nights out. It meant growing up, growing up fast. She would have someone relying on her. Nayeon didn’t know the first thing about being a mother, she’d never had one. Her own mother had completely abandoned her and refused to explain why.

But could Nayeon do that to her own daughter?

No. No she couldn’t.

She had an opportunity now to do things differently. To be the mother she had never had. She could raise her son or daughter from the day she was born in a loving and kind house hold. They would never have to suffer in the cracks of the care system. They would never lie awake at night wondering why their mother didn’t want them. Sure, they hadn’t been planned. Sure, the situation wasn’t ideal. But Nayeon owed it to this unborn child to step up and accept responsibility for her actions.

Besides, it wasn’t like she was completely alone.

She had her Appas, her sisters - they would all help her. She wouldn’t rely on them, Nayeon was aware that she’d have to do most of it herself but it still meant she had support. Briefly she wondered if her own mother had had these thoughts, had weighed up all her options the same way. But Nayeon couldn’t dwell on that, not when she finally had the chance to make up for that woman’s mistakes.

“If I keep it…will you be ashamed of me?”

“Of course not!” Siwon told her,

“We’ll support you however you need.” Leeteuk added,

“We’ll probably be frowned upon…”

“So what!?” Siwon laughed, “We’re gay parents with 9 kids, some of whom are themselves queer, a daughter who gets brought home by the police every week and another who was once in the paper for winning a hot dog eating contest and throwing up on the judge. Our reputation is screwed either way. What matters is how you feel.”

Nayeon swallowed, “I’m scared but…I don’t know, it feels worth it. I owe it to the baby to give it a good life.”

Leeteuk smiled, “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Oh God!” Siwon suddenly shouted, “I’m going to be a Granddad…I’m not ready to be old!”

Her Appas began arguing over who would make the better grandparent and later, when they told her sisters the news, another argument broke out over who would be the best aunt. Nayeon smiled, hand still on her belly. Watching her family get excited at the prospect of a baby in the house made her tear up again, but the real tears fell later when she was in bed and it all finally sunk in.

But she could do this.

She owed it to the baby to do this.

She owed it to her child.

And Kim Nayeon would always pull through.


	23. Throwing Stones at Glass Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaeyoung throws a stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from the amazing Burnirotihaari on AFF!

** Throwing Stones at Glass Houses **

Chaeyoung loved Saturdays.

The first day of the weekend. No school, a whole Sunday to look forward to and her Appas never asked where she was all day. Albeit she was usually with the more sane Dahyun and Mina who kept her in check, however those two were busy today leaving Chaeyoung to her own devices. For some reason she wasn’t looking forward to this particular weekend. Ever since Tzuyu had….well since that mess everyone in the house had been awkward about it.

Nobody really brought it up, especially not Tzuyu. It was like they were all trying to forget it ever happened, which Chaeyoung thought was stupid. It happened, they weren’t all crowding Tzuyu at the moment because they suddenly loved their little sister. They were doing it because they all felt guilty, Chaeyoung more than most. Only Chaeyoung was doing the opposite of coddling, she was avoiding.

It wasn’t Tzuyu’s fault, any of it. It was just that whenever Chaeyoung locked eyes with her she was reminded that she had ditched her ONLY little sister without even realising. It made her feel dirty. Being in the house, with Tzuyu in such close proximity, it just physically hurt her inside. So when Somi asked if she wanted to go joyriding in her Mother’s car she jumped at the chance to leave the house.

The plan was to throw a brick they found through the boys’ school front window.

She wasn’t really feeling it though, choosing to just fake a smile and nod whilst Somi drove alarmingly fast through the streets. Chaeyoung just kept her gaze out the window, people watching more than anything. Watched some rich guy ignore a homeless man, watched the local cafe owner argue about the bill with a customer, watched Amber Liu in an alleyway making some sort of shady drug deal. They often called Seoul a hub of fine arts, the home of squeaky clean kpop. She could laugh, how wrong they were.

“What’s with you?” Somi eventually asked,

“Huh?”

“You’ve looked like a kicked puppy since you got in,” Somi explained, skidding round a corner, “What’s eating you?”

Chaeyoung sighed, “Sorry…it’s Tzuyu.”

“I heard about that, asshole.” Somi growled, “If it helps when the story broke some dudes from the boys school beat him up when he came to collect his things.”

“It does a bit.”

“The rumour is that she lead him on.”

“WHAT!?” Chaeyoung shouted so loud Somi briefly lost control,

“Don’t yell like that, dumbass.” Somi scolded once she had regained control, slowing down in case Chaeyoung had another outburst,

“Who the fuck said that!?”

“He did.” Somi told her, “But Jennie’s the one who told me.”

“Why were you talking to Jennie?” Chaeyoung snapped, “And why would you believe anything that bitch had to say?”

“I don’t know,” Somi shrugged, “Nobody knows anything and you guys are keeping quiet. People are going to make assumptions.”

“Tzuyu would never do that,” Chaeyoung growled, “That dick…he already assaulted her, now he’s making out she seduced him. Tzuyu isn’t like that. You know that, right?”

“I only met her once, Chae.” Somi reasoned, “In fact the only people publicly defending her are Hyewon and Chong of all people.”

Chaeyoung was seething, “Tzuyu is a baby. She’d never do anything like that.”

“Okay.”

“She’s way too innocent!”

“Okay! Chae I believe you…but I don’t know if anyone else will.”

Chaeyoung punched the console, “That paedophile bastard!”

Somi side eyed her and suddenly took a sharp turning. Chaeyoung got her phone out and warned the “Tzuyu Watch” groupchat of the horrible rumours that had been going round. She didn’t mention Jennie, they all had experience trying to tell Sana that girl was toxic but she never believed them. Sana though the sun shone out of Jennie’s ass. It was gross. Chaeyoung had a theory it had started as a crush on Rosé and then over time Sana got pulled into Jennie’s cult.

As she basked in the equal fury of her sisters, she didn’t notice Somi’s new route. They had never gone this way before and they definitely were not heading towards the school. Heading away from public streets and into residential areas. Eventually coming to a stop outside a house Chaeyoung had never been to before. She didn’t notice for a moment, then when it dawned on her that they were no longer moving she looked up.

“Where are we?”

Somi looked to the house they were next to, “He lives there.”

“Who does?”

“Who’d you think?”

Chaeyoung swallowed and opened the door. She got out and looked over the top of the car at the small house a career in teaching could buy. Chaeyoung looked out the house with detest, so he was in there. That bastard who attacked her little sister was in there. She’d fantasized about this moment, being this close to him. After it had all come out she had made every threat under the sun that she would defend the honour of her baby sister.

Something dark filled her. It was like anger but it didn’t burn, it was icy cold. There was warmth somewhere in there - building, but for that instant her heart was ice. She hadn’t known what to do after Tzuyu…when she found out what had happened. The initial reaction had her screaming and crying and throwing her fist at the wall.

Her fingers brushed loosely over the healing, split knuckles on her right hand.

She wasn’t comforting like Jihyo or Momo and she lacked the natural protective instinct that Jeongyeon had. Truth is Chaeyoung was a side character, always in the big group but not important to the main cast. It was ironic, she had taken Tzuyu’s old role. Like it was her penance for being a bad sister, a bad unnie.

The ice melted away and soon the burn began.

There was a man in there that hurt her family. He had touched someone who was supposed to be untouchable and to avoid a scandal he got away with a “misconduct” firing. What if he hadn’t been pulled off? Tzuyu’s vow of silence proved one thing. Had it gone that far they would never have found out. Chaeyoung began burning hotter and hotter, ice melting away and fire replacing it at the thought of him getting away with it.

Then she realised how many men had gotten away with it before. How many times poor, innocent Tzuyu had been in that position. And the worst part? For most of them she didn’t even know it was wrong, Tzuyu was too young to know what those men were doing. So many men got away with it and even with their protection Tzuyu still couldn’t escape it. And she hadn’t even told Chaeyoung a thing!

At that thought something snapped.

The burning stopped.

Chaeyoung’s ears stopped rushing.

And for a brief second she thought she’d be able to get back in the car.

_SMASH!_

She blinked, her hand was out stretched before her and Mr Tuan’s window was smashed through. The brick they had planned to throw at the boys’ school gone from the passenger foot well.

To make things worse a hand clapped on her shoulder, when she turned there was an officer stood there.

“Umm….I dropped the brick?”

_____

Chaeyoung had been taken home by the police a lot.

But this was the first time she had no mischievous smirk on her face.

She kept her gaze on the floor as the two officers knocked on the front door.

Mina answered it and Chaeyoung looked up briefly to see the soul crushing disappointment on her face. She stood aside and let the officers bring Chaeyoung to where everyone else was sat in the living room watching TV. Siwon and Leeteuk were cuddled on the couch and stood abruptly when two policemen came in.

“Chaeyoung!” Leeteuk snapped, “What’s she done now officer?”

The first officer smiled kindly, the second looked uncomfortable and both Siwon and Leeteuk knew why. The girls were dotted around the room watching, each looking concerned. Dahyun, who had been laying on the floor doing a puzzle with Mina (who had stormed upstairs) stood and went to stand behind Tzuyu in the armchair. Chaeyoung’s lack of smirk had them worried, this was serious.

“She threw a brick through someone’s living room window.” Officer Happy said,

“A very serious offence.” Officer Dick added,

“Kim Chaeyoung! What the hell!?” Siwon scolded,

“Who’s house officer?” Leeteuk asked, “We’re happy to pay any damages.”

It bothered Chaeyoung a little as to how this all seemed second nature to her fathers. Did she really fuck up this often?

“It was one Mr Mark Tuan,” Officer Dick said, not noting the tension rise in the room, “She threw it from the passenger side door of her friend’s mother’s car.”

Tzuyu stood immediately and left the room.

“Was it something I said?” Officer Dick asked sarcastically,

Siwon glared at him, “We had an altercation with him recently. He assaulted our youngest after one of his science classes.”

“That would explain why he refused to press charges.” Officer Happy acknowledged, he looked over the glum faces in the room, “I suppose we should leave you to discipline your daughter. Maybe we’ll keep this one off the record.”

“Really!?” Chaeyoung asked, finally looking up,

“Really??” Office Dick snapped,

“No charges filed and…honestly I would have done the same to protect my sister.”

“But--”

“Just let it go.”

“Fine. But we still have to inform social--”

“Thank you, Officers!” Siwon smiled not wanting to hear what Officer Dick was about to say, “Let me show you out.”

Chaeyoung got a clap on the back by Officer Happy as he went.

Cue a massive chewing out by her Appas in front of the majority of her sisters before everyone admitted they would have done it too. Because of this her sentence was lessened and she was just sent to bed without dinner. That was fine with her, she’d lost her appetite anyway. Before she went to her room however she decided to make a stop. She knew she had to talk to Mina but maybe that could wait for tomorrow.

“Tzuyu?” She called poking her head round the door,

Tzuyu was laying on her bed and looked at Chaeyoung as she came in.

“You’re an idiot.”

“I know.” Chaeyoung smiled, sitting on the edge of her bed, “Can we talk?”

Tzuyu nodded, “Why would you throw brick through his window?”

Chaeyoung shrugged, “I was mad. I haven’t been much of a big sister lately.”

Tzuyu was quiet.

“I just,” Chaeyoung sighed, “I remembered back when we used to tell each other everything. What happened?”

“We grew apart, it happens.”

“But that’s not fair,” Chaeyoung whined, “I didn’t mean to ditch you.”

“I know.”

Chaeyoung looked at her, “Can we go back to that?”

“To what?”

“To telling each other lame secrets and acting like they’re a big deal.” Chaeyoung laughed, “I miss you.”

Tzuyu finally smiled back, “I’d like that.”

Chaeyoung got up to lay next to her, “You start.”

“Okay,” Tzuyu thought a moment, “Elkie skipped school Friday to hang out here.”

“No way!” Chaeyoung nearly squealed, but she was too cool for that, “So are you two…together?”

Tzuyu sighed, “I don’t think I should really be dating right now.”

Chaeyoung frowned, “I guess.”

“But we did make out a little.”

“OH MY GOD!”

“Your turn now.”

“I kissed Dahyun in the treehouse during the party.”

“WHAT!?”

Sure in an hour her Appa Leeteuk would come up and scold her for not being in bed but it would be worth it. Worth it because for that one afternoon they felt like little kids again, sharing lame secrets and gossiping about their Unnies.

Shutting out the world for a moment.


End file.
